Foreign
by LilKiwiBird
Summary: If no one comes from the future to stop you, how bad a decision can it really be? Ten is lost, she may never get back home. She knows this and yet... All characters and film/book plot lines belong to responding creators. Some creative liberties have been taken in regard to characters and their abilities.
1. Epigraph

_The events in this book are real. Names and places have been changed to protect the Lorien seven, who remain in hiding. Take this as your first warning. Other civilisations do exist, some of them seek to destroy you._**\- Pittacus Lore**

_On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual in the only fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible. He got seven of them._**\- Umbrella Academy**


	2. Prologue

One rose from his bed, seemingly floating through the mundane tasks of that morning. Eat breakfast, collect his finished reports, water the potted plant, dress in the suit imprinted with his initials _'L. Hargreeves'_, take out the rubbish and watch as the sun came over the moon, igniting the surface in its eerie glow. Just another day in outer space.

* * *

Two crept through the house, watching the assailants' movements like a hawk. He could hear them ordering the family to show them where their valuables were and the family begging for their lives. Two waited till the family, held hostage in their own home, were gathered together before he struck, daggers in hand. The assailants dropped like flies, their bodies broken and beaten to the floor. His blood rang with sweet adrenaline, boy did he love this.

* * *

Three walked down the red carpet, garbed in a beautiful red velvet dress. The sweetheart neckline dipped low, showing cleavage that paired well with the diamond jewellery she wore. Her curls were piled high and the train on the dress trailed behind her giving the image of the sophisticated beauty she always dreamed to be. The cameras flashed constantly as the paparazzi crowed their compliments at her. This is where she truly belonged; centre stage, basking in the lime light.

* * *

Four leapt from his bed, clothed in nothing but a fur coat, loose shirt and tight pants, a heavy sigh on his lips as he exited the jaundice coloured room. Collecting his things from the tired receptionist and a shiny gold coined engraved with the number 30 on it. It didn't take long for him to exchange the familiar walls of the rehab centre for wailing sirens and oxygen masks of the ambulance, the evidence from his latest episode clutched firmly in his right hand.

* * *

Seven clutched the violin like a lover would their partner. The music resonated throughout the empty theatre, bringing her both peace and loneliness. As the music drew to a close the raging of her thoughts that had been kept at bay by the music, came rushing back. The spotlights slowly clicked off one by one, leaving her in total darkness.

* * *

A family so dysfunctional as this, it's really no wonder they didn't know. No word from their Mother, and to hear about it on the news? I suppose it's true what they say, "_We only see each other at weddings and funerals_"


	3. We Only See You at Weddings & Funerals

_"...Oh my Lord, take this soul, lay me at the bottom of the river. The Devil has come to carry me home; lay me at the bottom, bottom of the river..."_ The young adult hummed along to the song as it played through her old headphones.

She twisted and turned, dancing slowly in her worn orange and blue pyjama pants and oversized cat t-shirt, as she sliced the crusts off another cucumber sandwich and placed it on the piling plate in front of her. Her bare feet padded softly to the beat of the song, oblivious to the biting winter cold that seeped in through the tiled floor.

Of all the rooms in the giant house, the kitchen was defiantly her favourite (closely followed by the library), you could always count on the room being kept relatively warm, lit by either the stove or the fireplace in the corner.

She often caught herself thinking about lucky she had been to find employment in this big empty house. Her days filled with patching up leaks and dusting odd corners of the home, days where she'd wonder what the children in the paintings, might be doing now. Her employers as her only companions; not that she minded of course.

There were days where she'd would wake early to bake alongside Grace Hargreeves, filling the rooms with the sweet smell of baked goods. Or days where she'd be polishing the silverware, listening to Pogo as he read from yet another classic novel.

She never really met Reginald Hargreeves, he was an odd sort of fellow. He kept to himself and was typically seen with a sour look upon his face or staring off into space. He would often watch her as she polished the statues in the courtyard, from the window in the study, his face unreadable. Never once did he join the three for meals, opting instead to have them in his study. The one place she was forbidden to go. Maybe he just didn't like people? She could understand that, as introverted as she was.

"Miss Thea!" called a weary voice from the doorway of the kitchen, pulling her from her thoughts. Pulling down her headphones, she turned to the speaker, it was Pogo, Mr Hargreeves' ape butler and oldest friend.

"Yes?" she asked placing the knife onto the chopping board

"The children have started to arrive"

"Okay, I'm nearly done here and then I'll go wash up"

* * *

Now clothed in her worn black jeans and grey chunky knit sweater, Thea made her way through the house avoiding the rooms where foreign voices echoed out. She followed the familiar weary tone of Pogo to where he stood with one of the Hargreeves' children, looking up at the portrait that hung above the blazing fireplace. The girls appeared to be around her height and was shrouded in a large dark raincoat, that almost seemed to swallow her.

She stopped a short distance away from the pair, waiting for a lapse in conversation. Clearing her throat, she moved closer turning to Pogo. "Sorry to interrupt, but you said you wanted to know when all the children had arrived"

"Thank you, my dear" replied Pogo, hands grasped over the head of the walking cane, neither speaking above the quiet tone.

"...Um, who are you?" came the quiet voice of the Hargreeves' child.

"Oh, uh I'm Thea. I work here, as a housekeeper" came the quiet stilted reply as she turned to the other girl before her. Looking closer, Thea was able to connect some of the stories that Grace had told her through the years about her children to the person standing in front of her; Vanya, if she had to guess

"Housekeeper?"

"Mm, you know just fixing leaks, dusting things and the like..."

"...Ah"

Thankfully the awkward conversation was brought to a halt as the other Hargreeves' siblings trailed into the living room, where they draped themselves across the couches. The duo parted with a quiet "nice to meet you" as Vanya made her way over to her siblings and Thea turned to follow after Pogo.

* * *

_"...Come little children, I'll take thee away into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time's come to play; here in my garden of shadows..."_ Her headphones hung around her neck with the music blaring; Thea stood absently next to the small kettle as she waited for the water to boil. So focused on her thoughts that she didn't even notice the new presence enter the room.

_**17 Years Ago**_

_**The loud whistle of missiles and gunfire ripped through the night, igniting the sky in reds and yellows. The smell of decay was evident, burnt flesh carried on the wind, from the bodies that lay strewn on the ground.**_

_**There was so much noise; shouting, gunfire, rockets launching. The first shuttle had already left, the faces of her friends and siblings pressed against the glass scoured into her mind. She clutched to the memory of the hand dragging her towards the second shuttle. The last chance to escape.**_

_**A small ornate chest was clutched in her bloody hands, her ever present pendant bouncing against her pounding heart as she ran. Blood rushed in her ears, and tears stained her eyes. She was nearly there! The shuttle was so close, she could almost touch it.**_

_**Suddenly there is a pain in her leg, her small body drops to the floor with the force of the hit. Hands grab at her, hoisting her high. That face, that sneering face is forever burnt into her mind. All pointed ears, and tattooed skulls.**_

_**She clings to the box like it's her lifeline, wishes fervently to get away. She wants away, away from the pain, away from the noise. Away, away, away.**_

The hand on her shoulder abruptly pulled her from her memories, as she swings around hand clutched around the teaspoon she had been fiddling with. Blinking, one moment, she's in a war zone, the next she's in the kitchen, a teaspoon in hand.

"You're threatening me with a spoon?" laughs the partially dressed man before her as he dances away from her reach. It takes a moment for her to realise that she's back in the kitchen of the Hargreeves' home, holding a spoon as if it were a knife.

Lowering her 'weapon' she gets a good look at the man, the resemblance to some of the academy paintings is uncanny. Turning back to the now whistling kettle, she drops in a couple of spoonfuls of cordial powder into her cup, watching as the water in the cup turned orange before she made her way over to the old sofa in the back end of the kitchen.

Glancing up as she goes, she watches as he pops a couple of green-tinted pills into his mouth, before spinning around, Reginald's urn under his arm as he dances to a song only he can hear (he doesn't really seem to care about her there). It's only once she's settled on the big worn old couch in the back of the room, her feet tucked up in front of her barely reaching the other arm rest with Charlie Donlea's latest novel open in front of her, that the sound of some old record came blaring through the walls. It's not long before the gentle beat of the song begins to lull her off to sleep.

It's only moments later when the kitchen is suddenly plunged into deafening silence and total darkness, does Thea jerk upright.


	4. Welcome to the Black Parade

Moments later, the kitchen is suddenly plunged into deafening silence and total darkness, making Thea jerk upright, eyes wide open. Loud thundering cracks rip through the quiet, echoing throughout the empty halls as the windows begin to rattle.

All the metallic items in the room are suddenly pulled towards the doorway. Thea falls from the couch with a quiet yelp as fireplace poker flies over her head, missing her by centimetres. A quick glance at Klaus shows him clutching onto the urn for dear life, several of the kitchen knives quivering from the force from being embedded in the doorframe.

Thea scrambled to her feet, forgoing shoes as she followed the sound of thunder out to the courtyard where the Hargreeve siblings had gathered. "Holy shit" breathed Thea as her socked feet came to a standstill behind the siblings, oblivious to her wet socks. Thea stared eyes locked on the twisting, turning blue mass suspended in the air.

Unbidden a memory surfaced of twisting blue forces and falling, always falling; the sound of the siblings' conversation building up the white noise behind the blood rushing in her ears.

"What is it?" asked Vanya, her question going unanswered.

"Don't get too close" warned Alison, pulling Luthor back from the unknown swirling mass.

"Yeah, no shit" retorted Diego as he came to stand on Luthor's other side.

"Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two" said Luthor

"There's a pretty big difference there Paul Bunyan!" cried Diego as Klaus burst forward, a fire extinguisher clutched in his hand. When the extinguisher proved ineffective, Klaus threw the entire thing into the mass.

"What was that gonna do?!" demanded Alison.

"I don't know! Do you have a better idea?!"

A large flash of blue lit up the courtyard, forcing everyone to step back. "Everyone, get behind me!" ordered Luthor trying to shelter as many of his siblings behind his large bulking form as he could.

"Yeah, get behind us" added Diego, trying not to be outdone.

"I vote for running. Come on!" called Klaus as he backed further towards the house. Thea said nothing as she stood frozen, huddled in the long shadows of the house. Everyone watched on as a figure began to emerge from the mass. At first, it appeared to be an old man; however that soon changed as a young boy, (around his young teens) fell from the mass to the ground below; the portal from which he appeared, disappearing in a flash.

All breaths were held as the boy stood up, drowning the suit he wore. "Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is it just me?" asked Klaus as he and his siblings stepped closer to the boy. The others gave no reply as Thea shrank back further into the shadows of the house, watching intently as the boy glanced down at himself before exclaiming "Shit"

* * *

Although itching to take down notes on watch she just saw, Thea remained where she was, hidden slightly by the curved doorframe, where she had taken refuge after the siblings had made it back inside. She had noticed Vanya and Klaus glance in her direction as she moved further inside the building, before they focused back on their long-lost brother. Understandably, the siblings were more focused on him than a strange girl in their home.

Her eyes stayed glued to the boy-Number Five- as Klaus had called him. A deep guttural pain lodged itself in her heart at the name; the flash of a young stocky boy with brown hair appeared before her eyes. Blinking rapidly, her focus turned once more to the Hargreeves' siblings who sat piled around the kitchen table.

The cucumber sandwiches she'd prepared earlier, left abandoned as Five moved around the kitchen grabbing items for his sandwich. "What's the date? The exact date" he asked moving to grab a couple of slices of bread.

"The 24th" answered Vanya.

"Of what?"

"March"

"Good"

"So are we gonna talk about what just happened?" demanded Luthor, standing up, "It's been 17 years" he exclaimed as Five continued making his sandwich, the look in his eye telling Thea much more than what he was telling. He'd seen something, war maybe? It reminded her of a look she wore in her earlier years.

"It's been a lot longer than that" retorted Five as he teleported to the kitchen bench to grab a bag of mini marshmallows, and back again, easily getting around Luthor's attempts to intimidate him.

"Where'd you go?" asked Diego, arms crossed as he sat on the tabletop.

"The future. It's shit by the way"

"Called it!" sang Klaus.

"I shoulda listened to the old man" stated Five searching in the fridge for the peanut butter, "You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice...Nice dress"

"Oh well, Danke" replied Klaus twirling the tassels through his fingers.

"Wait, how did you get back?" asked Vanya.

"In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time" explained Five.

"That makes no sense" said Diego.

"Well it would if you were smarter"

"How long were you there?" asked Luthor, holding back Diego as he stood to attack Five.

"45 years, give or take"

"So what are you saying? You're 58?" asked Luthor as both he and Diego collapsed back in their seats.

"No, my consciousness is 58. Apparently my body is now 13 again" explained Five as he took a bite of the sandwich. Thea wrinkled her nose in disgust, marshmallows and peanut butter? Ugh.

"Wait how does that even work?" Vanya asked.

"Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh, bet she's laughing now"

"Delores?"

"Hm. Who are you?" asked Five finally calling out Thea from her spot in the doorway; causing the remaining siblings to turn in their seats. There was a moment of silence before Thea stepped out of the shadows, her wet socks squelching on the tiled floor as she came into view. Heart beating wildly, her hands hidden by the long sleeves of her sweater, clenched onto the hem.

"...Oh, uh I'm Thea. I'm the housekeeper" said Thea as her eyes quickly roved over each sibling before settling on a spot off to the side of Five's head.

"Housekeeper? Since when?" demanded Diego, a defensive tone becoming apparent as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Uh, 'bout four years now" replied Thea as she nervously rubbed her nose. There was a moment of awkward silence before Klaus piped up, pointing towards her excitedly. "Hey! You threatened me with a spoon!"

"...Seriously?" asked Diego, a slight twitch to his lips.

"Uh, yeah" muttered Thea as she made not-quite eye contact with each speaker.

"Hm, guess I missed the funeral" stated Five as he picked up the newspaper with his Father's picture on the front page and the headline _'City Says Goodbye to Reginald Hargreeves'_ . Effectively returning his siblings' attention back to him; Thea quietly let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"How'd you know about that?" Luthor asked, skepticism evident in his voice.

"What part of 'the future' do you not understand? Heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah/No" replied Diego and Luthor together.

"Mm, nice to see nothing's changed"

"Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Alison asked, turning to watch as Five walked out the door and Thea pressed herself back out of the way.

"What else is there to say? Circle of life"

"Well...that was interesting" muttered Luthor.


	5. Dangerous

_"...Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal..."_ Pogo's voice droned on from his armchair next to the fireplace, as Thea continued to polish the silverware laid out on the coffee table between them later that day.

The gentle lilts in his tone made George Orwell's _'1984'_ soothing to hear, despite the context of the book. It reminded her of long-lost days where her grandfather would read to her; where she'd always ask for one more book, one more story. It is to the gentle tone of Pogo's storytelling and the rhythmic motion of polishing the silverware that Thea drifts off into her memories.

_**A stocky elderly man stood on the edges of a lake, ten young children garbed in brightly coloured swimwear are situated before him, each submerged in the water, paddling to keep afloat. "Elder Setrákus Ra once said 'Fear is not real"**_

_**Each child had been given coloured stone to retrieve from the dark and murky lake bed, the first to do so would be granted a prize. At the sound of the whistle, ten loud splashes were heard as the children dove beneath the water.**_

_**"It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist"**_

_**It didn't take long for most to resurface their little lungs gasping for air, before trying again. A loud crow of elation was heard as one of the children burst forth from the water, a bright yellow stone clasped tightly in their hand.**_

_**"That's not fair! Eight cheated!" came the high pitched cry from off to the left, where Three sat, water dripping from his curly mop. The boy in question had small but visible gills decorating the sides of his neck, easily showing how he was able to complete the task.**_

_**"He adapted" the stocky elderly man retorted shortly as the other children, tried to retrieve their stones once more with renewed vigour, the sun basking down on the children.**_

_**"Fear is a choice"**_

* * *

Thea sat atop the tall bar stool at the local donut shop, her oversized hoodie draped over the back of the stool, a half-full chocolate milkshake & an empty plate to her right and her rather tatty notebook out in front of her. Swinging her feet to the beat of the song playing quietly over the loudspeaker, she continued to write down her ideas and theories about what she had seen in the courtyard.

Maybe Five was like her? He could obviously teleport and the time travel was a little more shaky, but to jump multiverses? She found that hard to believe, still that didn't stop the theories from swirling around in her head.

It was quiet, being towards the tail-end of the night, she enjoyed it, the peaceful quiet of the store paired with the scratching of her pencil against the paper. It was like she was in her own little world and maybe she had been, wrapped up in her own little world these past couple of hours.

She'd purposely gone out before the funeral, stating that it was more of a family matter and that she would pay her respects later, maybe bring some flowers. It was just better that way, or at least that was what she had told Pogo; really she just couldn't stand the sudden increase in company. To go from 2-3 people as her companions to 8 in one go...it made her uncomfortable.

So here she was wrapped up in her own little world, fervently writing down notes and ideas (the Loric runes looking more like chicken scratch than actual words) when she was interrupted by the bell above the door ringing, followed by the stools to the right and left of her scraping their legs along the ground as they're pulled back and people sit down.

A quick glance to her left revealed a middle-aged portly man; a truck driver by the looks of it and to her right is Five, now dressed smartly in what appears to be a school uniform. It doesn't take long for the waitress to return to the bar, answering Five's impatient bell ringing with a well-practised smile.

"Sorry, sink was clogged" chuckled the waitress as she pulls out her pad and pencil ready to take the orders; "So, what'll it be?"

"Uh, give me a chocolate éclair" ordered the truck driver.

"Mm-hm, sure. Can I get the kid a glass of milk or something?"

"The kid wants coffee. Black" scoffs Five.

"Cute kid" chuckles the waitress slightly taken back by his rudeness. The man just grunts as the waitress turns to make the orders.

Thea had tuned out the most of the conversation, ignoring the presences on either side as she continued to scribble down in her notebook. She really did need a new one. This one was less of a notebook now and more of a pile of scrap pieces of paper glued together that unfolded like a map. The diagrams and the runic short-handed notes scribbled down, almost seemed to wallpaper the pages.

She knew that she really should get a new one, but this stained tatty notebook with the intricately carved Loric symbols into the leather-bound covers, was one of the few possessions she had of home. As silly as it was, she couldn't seem to part with it.

Finally finishing the last of her notes, she closed her notebook and stood with a sigh, her back letting out a satisfying crack as she did so. With a quick glance around the store, she noticed that the trucker had left, the waitress had gone out the back and Five was still seated at the bar sipping at what looked to be a cup of coffee and seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Tucking her small notebook into the back pocket of her jeans, she made her way towards the bathroom at the back of the store, leaving her hoodie draped over the back of the stool. There wasn't much inside the cramped bathroom just a sink and the stalls, plus the overwhelming smell of cheap air freshener.

After taking care of business, she made her way to the sinks and splashed some cold water over her face. Absentmindedly she noticed that the small speaker in the corner of the room (which was playing They Might Be Giant's 'Istanbul [Not Constantinople] ) only just seemed to drown out what sounded like rapid gunfire. She must've been more tired than she thought. Gunfire in a donut shop? Honestly.

The small twinge in her back reminded her why she had come to the bathroom in the first place; stripping herself of the knitted sweater and graphic tee she wore, she turned to see as much as she could of her back in the bathroom mirror.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least for her. There were still the burn-like scars that ran the length of her spine; three familiar alien-looking circular scars, starting at the base of her neck leaving a fair amount of space between the third one and the rest of her back. The burnt skin seemed to twist and turn in an almost pretty way around the circular scars. The scars, so similar in design to her beloved pendant.

* * *

Just as the song hit the chorus, the door to the bathroom swung open, hitting the wall with a crash. Thea's hands fell from the hem of her sweater where she'd just pulled it back on. Her eyes snapped up to the reflection of the heavily armed man standing in the doorway, gun pointed towards her. "Shit" she breathed before dropping to the floor as she watched his finger squeeze the trigger.

Bullets shattered the mirror where she had been standing only seconds before, gunfire igniting the room and the constant pop, pop of the bullets synching up with the ringing in her ears. Shoving away the quick flashes of the past, she focused on the man in front of her.

As if on instinct her skin began to crystallize, hardening into loralite, the very substance her planet was know for. She stood, every inch of her seemed to shimmer a cobalt blue in the light of the bathroom, the thin layer of loralite covering her like armour as she bared her teeth at the man in front of her.

Launching herself forward, hands outstretched with loralite acting as claws, Thea appeared almost animalistic. Eyes locked on the man in front of her, she ignored the bullets that bounce off of her, leaving small cracks in the armour. Pieces of loralite hit the floor as the bullets chip away at her, never fully touching.

It only takes moments for Thea to drive the man out of the cramped bathroom and back towards the front of the store. She backed off, waiting for the right moment to pounce. There! He needs to reload. Thea can see the fear in his eyes as he reaches the same conclusion. She launches forward once more, all claws and snapping jaws.

Her armour shatters on impact, they roll, a mess of limbs and snapping jaws as pieces of loralite fly. They finally come to a stop, her teeth embedded in the man's jugular. She ignored the feel of his arms struggling to remove her from his person, the sound he made as he gurgled his last breath and fell still.

Slow clapping catches her attention, making her release the corpse's jugular. Blood dripping from her chin, her eyes brush over the frozen form of Five in the corner, where he's seated at the bar, blood dripping down his forearm and knife in hand. Over the several armed bodies that now litter the bullet-riddled store, to the elderly gentleman standing in the doorway.

At first glance the man appears normal, human. But the three faint scars that could be seen peeking out from the sleeves of his woollen cardigan, prove otherwise. "You're a long way from home Ten" crowed the old man as he wandered forward, stepping over the corpse in front of him.

"As are you, Five" growled Thea as she slowly rose to her feet, eyes narrowed. Both ignored the Hargreeves boy in the corner, who jolted at the name, "Whose the suit?"

"Hm? Oh just some old guy" replied Five dismissively, "Not my first choice of course, but beggars can't be choosers, y'know"

"What d'ya want?" demanded Thea, hand clenching around a shard of loralite.

"What? I just want to be with my family again, Sis"

"Bullshit"

"Fair enough...I've got a message for you"

"You couldn't call?" Thea asked sarcastically, eyes never leaving the form in front of her, as he finally came to a stop, leaning against one of the tables still intact.

"Would you have answered?" came the reply, eyebrow quirked, smirk still firmly in place, "Anyway the message is, _28-29-3-11"_ Thea didn't even get another word in as the elderly man's eyes roll into the back of his head, before he dropped like a stone, dissolving into dust as he hit the floor.


	6. Run Boy Run

_**Numbness. It is all she knew, her limbs feel heavy and fatigue weighs on her like an elephant sat on her. Still she tries to fight, fight against the drugs that are coursing through her system, fight her ever drooping eyes.**_

_**Thea doesn't know where she is, she needs to know. She tries to remember what happened. How did she end up here? Gunfire, piercing whistles, piles of broken bodies strewn across the land flash before her eyes. She hopes and prays that it is just a nightmare. A bad dream. That when she opens her eyes, she'll be home in bed wrapped in her blankets, with Ragnar, her chimaera, asleep on her chest.**_

_**When she finally wrenches open her eyes, she does not see the familiar glow-in-the-dark mural on the ceiling nor the many books strewn around the wooden-encrusted room. Instead the walls are a pale jaundice, instead of comfy blankets, there are white crisp sheets strapping her to the bed.**_

_**Two large windows run the length of the right wall above a space heater, the wall to her left is made completely from glass. There is a constant beeping of heart monitor and a stranger in the corner of the room.**_

_**Thea lets out a groan as she tries to remove her arms from where they are sandwiched by her sides, thanks to the sheets. The noise catches the attention of the stranger, who turns surprised, eyes bright at seeing her awake.**_

_**Standing next to her, the stranger (a woman) hits a button next to her bed before she asks her many questions in rapid succession, lights are shone in her eyes and many other tests are done. There are many more people in the room now, rushing back and forth, excited whispers and mutterings are heard.**_

_**Thea does not reply to the woman next to her. Tears pour down her face, she can hear none of the familiar Loric lilt in the voices of the people in the room, she can barely recognise the language they speak (English, a voice whispers in the back of her mind), there are no chimaera standing guard at the door.**_

_**The thought hits her hard. There is no Ragnar. There is no home. The nightmare is real.**_

The night was still young when Five finally tracked down Thea, she was buying a bouquet of sweet peas and daffodils, of all things. Blood could still be seen on the edges of her sweater underneath the oversized hoodie; and when she turned he could see the faint traces of blood around her mouth from where she had tried to wash it off.

Thankfully the cashier seems too out of it to care or maybe he's just seen too used to seeing weirdos at this time of night. With his latest conversation with Vanya playing in his mind, Five steps out of the shadows, catching her attention as she closes the service station's door. "We need to talk"

* * *

The unusual duo found themselves seated on opposing chairs up on the rooftop garden of the Umbrella Academy, hidden away from prying eyes. "What did you wanna know?" sighed Thea as she fiddled with her hands, hunched over with her elbows on her knees, refusing to look Five in the eye.

"That man...he called you Ten" questioned Five, "You called him Five. You ripped out a man's throat, you were covered in crystal...how? Why?"

"...My real name, my Loric name is Ten. The one I told you, Thea, was the human name I chose when I arrived here" started Thea.

"Loric? Human? Arrived? Are you trying to say that you're...?"

"No, I'm not human" Thea sighed, pulling out the pendant she always wore, running her fingers over the engraving as she spoke. "My home, Lorien, was attacked when I was younger. My siblings and I, we were shipped off to Earth-our sister planet-in a hope to save some of us. Not everyone made it"

"And that man? The one you called Five?"

"Five's one of my brothers. He got caught by the Mogadorians when he was younger. They raised him, turned him into a weapon, one to be used against the rest of us"

"He was an elderly man"

"...Yeah, that was clever" chuffs Thea, "it's one of his legacies, he can possess the bodies of others. So far only those with weaker minds, like that elderly man; and not for very long, thankfully"

"Legacies?"

"There like...hereditary powers, ones passed down through the generations of teaching and family lines"

"...Hm"

"So that's my story. What about yours?" asked Thea as she slipped the pendant back inside her shirt and sat back.

"My story?" Five asks, "I already told you; I went to the future, it was shit, I came back"

"That's not all of if. I know that look, you're hiding something. I told you my story, what's yours?"

Five let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair thinking over what to say next. There was several moments of silence before he began his tale. "...I survived on scraps, canned food, cockroaches. Whatever I could find" His eyes were closed, head tilted back as if he were staring at the sky as he recited what he had told Vanya earlier that night.

"You know that rumour that Twinkies have an endless shelf life?" he chuckled, dropping his gaze back towards Thea, "Well it's utter bullshit"

"Mm"

"You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die. So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it"

"We?"

"...Doesn't matter. So that's it. That's my story"

Both could see that the other was holding back, neither pushed for more. In that moment, with the sun peeking over the horizon, this strange duo found comfort in the fact that whatever the other had seen, they were kind enough to keep it locked away. To keep the other in the blessed ignorance that they so desired.

* * *

It was early in the morning when Five finally found the Meritech building he's been searching for. It was tall and white, the glass windows stretching far and wide around the perimeter of the building and mannequins they had displaying the many prosthetics that were offered; it practically reeked of medical wealth.

He was brought out of his musings as the doctor who, had been called up by receptionist, finally arrived. "Uh, can I help you?"

"I need to know who this belongs to" states Five as he turns to the doctor, raising the glass eye in his hand.

"Where did you get that?"

"What do you care?...I...I found it...at a playground, actually" bluffed Five, "Uh, must've just popped out. I wanna return it to its rightful owner"

"Aw, what a thoughtful young man" cooed the receptionist.

"Yeah, look up the name for me, will ya?" retorted Five, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but patient records are strictly confidential. That means I can't tell you-" the doctor interjected.

"Yeah, I know what it means"

"But, I'll tell you what I can do. I will take the eye off your hands and return it to the owner, I'm sure he or she will be very grateful. So if I can just-"

"Yeah, you're not touching this eye" interrupted Five, suddenly weary of the doctor who seems rather interested in a seemingly ordinary glass eye.

"Now you listen here young man-" the doctor started to reprimand Five, before he is cut off by Five grabbing him by the lapels and pulling him down to his height.

"No! You listen to me, asshole. I've come a long way for this, through some shit your pea brain couldn't even comprehend, so just give me the information I need and I'll be on my merry way" The doctor goes to say something, but is interrupted by Five once again, "And if you call me 'young man' one more time, I'm gonna put your head through that damn wall"

"Oh dear" muttered the receptionist watching with rapt attention.

"Call security" rasped the doctor.

"Yeah" answered the receptionist, picking up the phone as Five shoved the doctor away with a scowl, leaving in a huff.


	7. Castle of Glass

By mid-morning Five had returned to his room at the academy. The start of a plan had begun to form in his mind. Unfortunately, it involved using one of his siblings and the only one gullible enough or at least easy enough to bribe without too many questions, was Klaus.

So here he was thinking over the plan once again when the footsteps ascending the stairs revealed themselves to be Vanya, a look of panic that gave way to relief as she saw him standing there by the window. "I was worried sick about you" worried Vanya coming further into the room.

"Sorry I left without saying goodbye" replied Five as he turned from the window, the '_again' _went unsaid.

"No, look, I'm the one that should be sorry. Yeah, I was dismissive, and...I-I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying" babbled Vanya when she saw the questioning look Five sent her way, "And I still can't to be honest..."

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive" muttered Five, scoffing slightly at the idea, "...Maybe it wasn't real after all. It felt real. Well...like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind"

"Then maybe I'm not the right person for you to be talking to. Look, I used to see someone. A therapist, I could give you her information..."

"Thanks, but I think I'm just gonna get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep"

"Okay" sighed Vanya as she left the room, obviously feeling dismissed.

Five watched from the doorway as Vanya descended the stairs and turned down the hallway. Not even seconds after Vanya had left, did Klaus burst forth from the cramped closet in the corner, the contents spilling onto the floor.

"That's so touching!" Klaus gasped, hand over his heart, "All that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!"

"Would you shut up! She'll hear you!" scolded Five, not at all surprised that his brother was hiding in the closet.

"...I'm moist"

"I thought I told you to put on something professional" asked Five, pointing towards the black, white and red clown-like shirt that Klaus wore matched with his usual skin tight trousers.

"What? This is my nicest outfit!"

"We'll raid the old man's closet" sighed Five making his way out of the room.

"Whatever, as long as I get paid" called Klaus as he followed Five out of the room.

"When the job is done"

"Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details, I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old Dad, correct?"

"Yeah. Something like that"

"What's our cover story?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean was I really young when I had you? Like 16? Like young, and..._terribly_ misguided?"

"Sure"

"Your mother, that _slut. _Whoever she was, we met at...the disco. Okay? Remember that. Oh my God, the sex was _amazing!"_

"What a disturbing glimpse into the thing you call a brain"

"Don't make me put you in time-out!" teased Klaus as he followed his brother passed the stairs and down the hallway. "Where are we going?"

"To get Thea" retorted Five as he knocked on the closed door at the end of the hall.

* * *

Five rapped a quick knock on the door before pushing it open to reveal Thea's bedroom. It wasn't the biggest bedroom in the house, nor was it cramped; although the decorating did make it seem so. From floor to ceiling the left wall had been wallpapered with notes written in that odd shorthand Five had seen her using in her notebook back at the donut shop.

The wall had been sectioned into nine spaces, a circular drawing (similar to the pendant she had been fiddling with earlier that morning) next to each of the names listed and red yarn spread across the whole thing like a spider's web.

The wall to the right bore a large window overlooking the courtyard, like most of the rooms on this side of the house. Empty plates and cups sat piled in a corner of the window sill, whilst several labelled jars held seedling plants like lavender, peppermint and cacti.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed a large bookcase that covered the wall surrounding the doorway, a hammock tucked away in a corner by the window. Five made his way over to the back wall where the mattress was pressed into a small alcove created by the dresser and the wall.

Klaus' attempts at rousing her had not been successful, if the still slumbering figure was anything to go by. Deciding to intervene, Five pulled off the duvet and delivered a swift kick to the mattress, jolting Thea who groaned and attempted to roll over, huddling into what little warmth was left.

"...Piss off Nine! It's too early" came the hoarse groan heavy with sleep, as she burrowed her face further into her pillow.

"Nine?" muttered Klaus

"It's Five and it 10.30am" replied Five, ignoring his brother's mutterings although, he too was curious.

That seemed to wake her up a bit as she rolled over and blearily opened her eyes at them. "Hm?"

"Get up, You're coming with us" ordered Five still holding her duvet, whilst Klaus had moved to flick through some of the books on her shelves.

Thea rolled out of bed with a groan, making her way towards her dresser as she ran a hand through her bed hair. "And...what are we doing today?" she yawned, pulling the drawers open with a small heave as she directed the question towards them.

"You're gonna pretend to be my sister, so that I can find out more about this glass eye" replied Five watching as she pulled out a periwinkle flowery blouse, a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey sweater.

"Mmkay" she replied not bothering to send them out as she began to dress.

"Aren't you gonna change in the bathroom?" asked a suddenly red-faced Five as Klaus gave a wolf whistle at the now partially bare Thea.

"Turn around if it embarrasses you" replied Thea tartly,"Didn't know you were such a prude" she added pulling on her jeans and zipping them up.

"Didn't know you weren't" replied Five now focused intently on the bookshelf. The sight of her bare, scarred back burned into his mind.

"I've got nine siblings, privacy isn't something we had...Well come on, let's go" she called walking passed both of them as she tied her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head.

* * *

About an hour or so later, all three of them were stationed in Doctor L. Big's office (his name having been printed on the small plaque that stood on his desk). Klaus (now dressed in a slightly too large striped suit) had taken the seat to the right and Five had taken the seat to the left, whilst Thea had stayed standing at the back of the room, playing on her phone. She was already bored of having to hear this conversation again. It seemed like they were just going around in circles.

"...Like I said to your son earlier, any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential. Without the client's consent, I simply can't help you" said Doctor Big, his tone heavy with condensation.

"Well, we can't get consent, if you don't give us a name" replied Five, leaning down on the desk.

"Well, that's not my problem. Sorry now there's really nothing I can do so-"

"Well, what about _my_ consent?" Klaus finally piped up.

"Excuse me?" question Big.

"Who gave _you_ permission...to lay your hands...on my son?" asked Klaus fake tears forming in his eyes.

"What?" chorused Big and Five as they turned to Klaus.

"You heard me"

"I didn't touch your son"

"Oh really? Then how'd he get that swollen lip then?"

"He doesn't have a swollen-" Big was suddenly cut off by Klaus who had stood up and swung a punch straight in Five's face. Five's head snapped back with the force of the swing and blood began to drip from the cut on his lip.

Thea glanced up from her phone at the grunt Five had made on impact, eyes shining with concern as she watched him rub his jaw, a pissed-off look on his face directed towards Klaus. "I want it. Name please. Now" demanded Klaus leaning down on the desk.

"You're crazy"

"You've got no idea..._'Peace on Earth' _That's so sweet" continued Klaus, picking up the snow globe from the desk, before smashing it against his forehead. Pieces of glass, glitter and water flew everywhere. "God! That hurt!" groaned Klaus, blood pouring down his face.

"I'm calling secur-" rambled Big as he reached for the phone on his desk and dialled the number for security, only for Klaus to reach over and wrench the phone from his hand.

"There's been an assault...in Mr Big's office and we need security, now. Schnell!" gasped Klaus before slamming the phone down onto the receiver.

"Now here's what's going to happen Grant" sighed Klaus leaning over, still dripping water and blood. Ignoring the whispered "It's...Lance" from Big, he continued.

"In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood. And they're gonna wonder _'what the hell happened?' _And we're gonna tell them that _you _beat the shitout of us"

Five tried uselessly to hide the grin that was spreading across his face as Klaus stood up straight,"You're gonna do great in prison Grant. Trust me, I've been there. Little piece of chicken like you...Oh my God, you're gonna get passed around like a...You're just-you're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying"

"You're bluffing! What reason do I have to believe that, anything like that is going to happen?" demanded Big trying to scrounge up some kind of courage.

"Miami, last January" interjected Thea from the back of the room where she was once again focused on her phone.

"What?" asked Big, taken back by the sudden comment.

"That's our reason" replied Thea with a smirk.

"...It was a business trip"

"Maybe the oldest business?...Oh! My favourite's the one of you doing a body shot off a girl in a bikini, super classy. Oh! Wait this one's even more racy...Does your wife know your sleeping around Mr Big? Maybe we should let her know, it'd be cruel to leave her ignorant to the antics of her cheating husband"

"You wouldn't-" muttered Big, face now ashen as he watched Thea in the corner blackmail him, the grin on Five's face grew larger, if it were possible.

_"Dear Mrs Big, the following images from your trip to Miami have been developed. Thank you for using our service, please come again..._ and send-" dictated Thea, her eyes never leaving her phone.

"Wait!" cried Big, his hand outstretched as if he intended to reach across the office and snatch the phone out of her hand.

"Yes?" questioned Thea, finally raising her head, her finger hovering over the send button.

"Surely we can come to some sort of agreement?" Big tried to bargain.

"Name. Now. And your wife will never hear about your cheating ways from us"

"You bitch!"

"Bitch, with wifi"

* * *

Moments later, all four were crowded around a set of filing cabinets, Klaus sat on the cabinets, while Five and Thea stood on the other side. Big pulled out a folder and opened reading through the notes as he did so "Oh, that's strange" he commented.

"What?" snapped Five opposite the doctor.

"Uh, the eye. It hasn't been purchased by a client yet"

"What? What do you mean?" questioned Klaus hovering over the doctor's shoulder.

"Well, uh, our logs say that the eye with that serial number...this can't be right. It hasn't even been manufactured yet...Where'd you get that eye?"

Thea didn't pay much attention to the conversation, instead keeping her eye on the strangely tall blonde male intern, who kept glancing over at her. His face may have been kept blank, but his eyes roved over her like a piece of meat. She didn't like it one bit.


	8. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

"Well, this is not good" muttered Five as the trio walked out the front door.

"I was pretty good though, right?" commented Klaus, "Yeah, what about _my_ consent, bitch?" he chuckled.

"Klaus, it doesn't matter"

"What? What? What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?"

"There is someone out there who is going to loose an eye in the next seven days. They're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it"

"Hey, how'd you get into his files?" Five directed the question towards Thea, who was sat on the steps.

"Hm? Oh the company boasts endlessly about supplying vets with prosthetics, so it stood to reason that they would use a similar system to the military. Plus I saw that he'd written down his password on a sticky note" explained Thea.

"Huh"'

"Yeah, anyway...can I get that 20 bucks, like, now or what?" Klaus asked

"Your 20 bucks?" repeated Five.

"Yeah, my 20 bucks"

"The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is getting high?"

"Well, I'm also quite hungry. Tummy's a-rumbling. Grr!"

"You're useless! You're all useless!" cried Five as he dumped himself down on the front steps; next to Thea who sat watching the two and glancing over her shoulder.

"What's with you?" Five asked as Thea glanced once again over her shoulder at the front doors. She could've sworn she saw the creepy intern watching her again.

"Nothing. Nothing, I'm fine" replied Thea resolutely turning back to the front with her arms crossed, however the white-knuckled grip she had on her forearms said otherwise.

"You need to lighten up old man!" called Klaus as he too joined them on the steps, "Hey y'know, I've just now realised why you're so uptight! You must be horny as hell! All those years by yourself, it's gotta screw with your head, being alone"

"Well...I wasn't alone"

"Oh? Pray tell"

"Her name was Delores, we were together for over 30 years"

"30 years? Oh that's sweet" muttered Thea, finding the idea that one person you love more than anything a wishful dream; one that she secretly wanted herself.

Klaus had a different approach to the statement "30 years?! Oh wow! God, the longest I've been with someone was...I don't know, three weeks? And that's only because I was so tired of looking for a place to sleep"

Five disappeared in a flash, tired of listening to Klaus ramble on. Only for a taxi to drive down the street a couple of seconds later, the boy in question waving out the window as Klaus shouted angrily at him.

* * *

Several hours later, Thea found herself sneaking in through the back door of a thrift store and hiding inside one of the changing rooms as the last of the day's customers filed out and the staff packed up. She sat there her knees pulled up to her chest as she recounted the day's events.

After the fiasco with the glass eye, she had felt that the creepy intern was giving her a bit too much attention, so she had purposely chosen crowded locations to inhabit, where she could hopefully loose him. If he was indeed following her.

She'd gone to a busy cafe for lunch and sure enough he'd been there sat at an outdoor table. Next she tried the library, again he followed. It was almost like he was a lost puppy, following her to the market, then the park and finally to this thrift store. Never getting close, just watching. Always watching.

She waited a few moments more in the lowlight and silence, before making her way out of the changing room and onto the main floor of the store. Thankfully, she was short enough that she mostly hid behind the racks of clothing without too much difficulty, however that also meant she had trouble seeing if anyone else was in the store with her.

When she came to a stop by the end row of trousers next to a mannequin display, she finally let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Finally! She'd lost him! And it only took her most of the day. Closing her eyes, she ran her hands over her face in relief, as she tried in vain to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Although that relief was soon shattered as a hand landed on her shoulder. She swung around wildly to face the person. Blood rushing in her ears and heart beating wildly once more, she posed ready to attack when her wide eyes landed on the form of someone shorter than her stalker, light shining in her eyes.

"...Five?" Thea gasped, hand over her heart, "Jesus! Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

"What are you doing here?" Five asked curious, taking in her disheveled appearance.

Thea went to answer, however the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the store caught her attention before she could. Quickly ducking down, Thea peered through the rack of clothes to see the socked sandals that had been following her all afternoon. With a quiet whimper, Thea back-pedalled as fast as she could, scrambling to get away from the creature attached to those feet and ended up crashing into Five's legs in the process.

Five stumbled back with a grunt, not expecting her to react in such a way. He reached down and pulled Thea up by her forearms, but kept a tight grip on her in the very likely case that she decided to run. It was odd seeing this look of fear plastered across her face, this was the same girl after all, who had ripped out a man's throat with her teeth. What could terrify her so much?

The footsteps grew closer until they stopped at the end of the row. "I found you" sang the figure at the end of the row. The blonde wig that adorned his head, had been tossed carelessly to the side, revealing the tribal tattoos covering his head for all to see. That grin, that sickening grin bared his sharp teeth to the world, making the gills on his face and neck flare with every breath he took.

The creature was garbed in a long black overcoat, that had been left undone. Underneath a bandolier could be seen, holding vials of the red substance that powered the monstrous weapon in his hands. The very weapon that was locked on them.

Thea stood frozen, arm stuck in Five's grip, watching as this monster crept closer. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, the blood had was pounding in her ears and the memory of pain, gunfire and death superimposed itself over the creature in front of her. The need to get away arose, the same need that she had felt as a small child all those years ago. Away from this monster. Mogadorian.

* * *

In that moment, the old adage appeared to be true. _'The enemy of my enemy, is my friend' _For at the same time that this Mogadorian had his sights trained on them, another pair of silent footsteps had joined the party guns blazing on the opposite the mannequins.

"NO!" cried Five as he and Thea dropped to the floor to avoid the rain of bullets. The gunfire had lit up the new members to reveal two masked figures in suits. One wore a pink puppy mask and the other wore a blue bear mask. They appeared to be similar to the ones that you would see at a carnival or a circus.

The sound of the gunfire, seemed to kick Thea into gear as the ever familiar layer of loralite covered her short frame almost instantaneously as she threw her body through a rack of clothes to the other side, before pelting down the rows, twisting and turning in a poor attempt to lose the Mog on her tail.

She had lost sight of Five and his pursuers, however their gunfire lit of the store in flashes, giving her an idea of where they might be. Just as she turned yet another corner, she ran straight into what felt like a solid wall.

Shit. Hands grabbed at her neck and hoisted her high in the air, squeezing the air out of her lungs. Her legs kicked uselessly in the air and her hands struggled to remove the one wrapped around her neck. The Mog brought her close enough that she could see the whites of his eyes, taking a deep breath the Mog released a sigh of pleasure as he spoke.

"You reek of fear. So palpable, so delicious I could almost taste it" he rasped, "I had hoped you'd be more of a challenge. I do so love the hunt" The hand that had been wrapped around his weapon came up to stroke the side of her face. Thea tried to flinch away, but the hand around her throat prevented her from moving. From breathing.

Black spots danced at the edge of her vision, her air was non-existent. The last of the loralite armour shattered, falling to the floor like glass beads. In a last ditch attempt, Thea raised her hands, now free of loralite, and gripped onto the bandolier as hard as she could. "You...have...no idea...what I'm...capable of" she rasped, as her hands began to ignite. The lumen, caused the red ammo to bubble and froth; the Mog snapped his gaze down to see what she was doing, just in time to see one of the vials spark and burst into flame, engulfing the two of them in the process.

* * *

One moment she had been dangling by her neck, the edges of her clothes of fire; the next, she had landed on the ground gasping for much needed air next to an exhausted Five and a sports bag with what looked like a pale mannequin arm sticking out.

Gaining some of her breath back, she glanced over her shoulder to see that the masked gunmen had now turned their fire on the Mog who stood in between them and their target. The bullets rocketed out from their guns, most hitting the rest of the bubbling bandolier, the rest missing him completely as the Mog went up in flames.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see nutters in masks" gasped Thea as she and Five managed to pulled themselves upright and careened around another rack of clothes before making their way to the cashier cubicles.

Thea made him go first, chucking the sports bag after him as he dove over the divider, taking advantage of their need to reload. Thea went next, pulling herself over and landing with a thump and a hiss as a bullet hit her shoulder.

"Got him!" came the feminine cheer from the other side of the divider; at the same time that several police cars pulled up to the front of the store, sirens wailing. In the moment of distraction that the cops created, Thea pulled Five down behind the barriers of the cashier cubicles, hiding themselves from both the cops and the assailants.

"Bastard jumped again" muttered a male voice.

"Come on, let's go" replied the other voice and their footsteps receded as the police stayed stationed outside the front door.

* * *

Moments later, Thea dumped Five's unconscious body on the twin bed of the motel room she'd been able to procure at a rather cheap price. She had woven a story of runaway brothers and strange men to the woman in the reception who'd eaten it up.

Thea locked the door, making sure the _'Do Not Disturb'_ hanger was on the handle and held her hand over the doorknob until a layer of loralite formed. She did the same to the windows before pulling the curtains. She was not taking any chances, not after tonight.

Returning from the bathroom, the first aid kit in hand. She set to work, pulling shrapnel from Five's limbs, cleaning and wrapping the larger cuts. Next she ran a damp cloth over his face, ridding him of the sweat that had started to dry and made sure that the mannequin he had dubbed Delores could be seen, sitting on the floor next to the bed. Removing his shoes and blazer, she tucked Five into bed, thoughts of taking care of her siblings after training floated through her head as she did so.

Once she was sure that Five was settled, (having only stirred slightly at the tug and pull of the thread as she had stitched him up), she turned to herself next. Pulling her blouse and burnt sweater over her head with a wince, she was able to get a good look at herself in the mirror.

Thankfully the bullet had only just grazed her, she could just see it peeking out of her shoulder. Gripping the base between her fingers, she gave a sharp tug and pulled out quickly. Like pulling off a band-aid. Dropping the bloody bullet into empty glass on the side table, she moved to clean and wrap the wound to the best of her abilities.

* * *

An hour or so later, Thea retreated from the bathroom, glass of water in hand to find Five sitting up, awake and trying to shove his feet into his shoes. "You're up" stated Thea in surprise.

"Uh huh" replied Five tying his laces.

"You need to rest"

"There's no time for that"

"I'm not asking, you can barely stand. You need to rest" retorted Thea as Five shoved Delores back into the sports bag.

"...I can't...not here" he whispered, not meeting her eyes as he stood by the door ready to leave.

"...Fine, come on" sighed Thea as she grabbed the key to the room and reabsorbed the loralite on the door and windows. Five followed slowly, gripping tightly to the straps of the sports bag slung over his shoulder.

* * *

Back at the academy, Thea watched from the doorway as Five settled in for the night. The confrontation with Luthor and Alison when they had returned, seemed to be the icing on the cake. He just seemed so out of it. Just so tired of everything.

Turning from the doorway and making her way back to her room, she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to her first few moments in this new world.

_**She lies in the hospital bed, the nurses tell her she's been in a coma for five years. She's ten now. The social worker she'd been introduced to was a portly woman, all rolls and dimples; she'd called her Jane Doe. Why did they name her? Her name wasn't Jane. The social woman had chuckled at the question.**_

_**Tears gathered in her eyes, refusing to fall. She had cried enough already. The thought still hurts. There is no Ragnar. There is no home. There are no siblings. The nightmare is real and it's getting worse.**_


	9. Extra Ordinary

_**5 Years Ago**_

_**Vanya stared through the window of the pawn shop, where two 'Umbrella Academy' comics sat centre stage of the display. Even now, she was constantly reminded of her siblings' successes. On an impulse she bought the red vintage typewriter.**_

_**It didn't take long for the words to pour onto the page. The advice of her therapist ringing in her mind as she did so; she needed to talk to someone, for someone to listen. Anyone. Anyone at all. **_

_**"My name is Vanya Hargreeves, and this is my story" Weeks turned into months, until finally the final manuscript had been shipped off to a publishers. She knew it was unlikely that anyone would be interested in her story, but she did it anyway.**_

_**"...We were never a real family. We were our father's creation, family in name, but not in fact..." Vanya sat upon a stool trying to smile. Most came out more as grimaces. The photo she was posing for, was for the book jacket of her one and only book. Her manuscript had been picked up.**_

_**"...In the end, after our brother Ben had died, there was really nothing connecting us. We were just strangers living under the same roof..." Vanya sat in a local book store reading aloud from her new book, to a large group of people. Here in this moment, she was special.**_

_**"...destined to be alone..." Luthor continued with his pushups in his bedroom at the academy, turning the pages as he did so.**_

_**"...starved for attention..." Alison sat in the familiar make-up chair as the last touches of her make-up was being done. Jerking upright at the accusations she found within the book as she read.**_

_**"...damaged by our upbringing..." Diego continued to box, punching the book cover strapped to the punching bag with Vanya's smiling face facing him. Anger and resentment coursed through him. Yes their childhood had been hell, but who was she to spread the family secrets?**_

**_"...and haunted by what might have been"_**  
_**"Oh my God! She actually wrote that?" breathed Ben as he leant over Klaus' shoulder, who had been reading aloud to the group session in rehab. "I can't believe she would do that!" **_

_**"...We all wanted to be loved by a man incapable of giving love..." Five sat on an upturned piece of rubble, dust covering every inch of him. Delores sat in the little red wagon behind him as he read. Entrapped in the his only solid connection to his family back home.**_

_**"...Our father never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was ordinary..." Reginald Hargreeves held the aforementioned book in his hands, as he read the handwritten inscription written on the front page. 'Dad, I thought, why not? V' before shelving the book, not even bothering to read it.**_

_**"...A hard thing for a little girl to hear. If you're raised to believe nothing about you is special. If the benchmark is extraordinary..." Later that year, Vanya is sat atop the stool in the local bookstore reading aloud from her book. Now there are only a few people sitting there, they're barely even listening.**_

_**Her book, the bestseller for a few months after its release, now reduced to half price, the big '50% off' stickers plastered over the books in the window. Maybe her father was right, maybe she's not special at all.**_

_**"...what do you do if you're not?"**_

When Five woke the next morning, it was to to a few aches and pains but not the kind he usually associated with being struck by a bullet. Standing in front of his bedroom mirror, he unravelled the tightly bound bandages. He was able to see that he had already been stitched up, the pieces of shrapnel already gone from his shoulder.

Whilst the area was still tender, there didn't appear to be any infections surrounding the butterfly stitches. Thea must've done something like this before, the stitches reminding him of his mother's when she'd stitch them up after a particularly nasty mission. A practised hand.

He still had a couple of questions whirling around in his mind from the night before. Who was that creature? Why had Thea been so utterly terrified? How the hell had they found him so quickly? Once this was all over, she definitely had a few questions to answer.

Pulling his uniform back on, Five grabbed the sports bag where Delores had been stuffed and climbed out the window, intending to take the fire escape to avoid as many questions as possible. It was just his luck that he came across Klaus digging through the dumpster in the alley, like a rodent.

"...so that Pogo will get off my ass!" came the tail end of Klaus' shout.

"I'd ask what you're up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me. I don't care" commented Five as he finished climbing down the fire escape.

"Hey!" laughed Klaus standing knee-deep in rubbish, "You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy?"

"This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought"

"Hey, hey, hey, so...you need any more company today?" rushed Klaus as he leant over the side of the dumpster, taking a swig from the flask in his hand, "I could, uh...clear my schedule"

"Looks like you've got you're hands full"

"Oh this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I'm just-" Klaus was suddenly cut off as he slipped and fell further into the dumpster. His voice bouncing around in an echo, "I just misplaced something. That's all...oh! Found it! Thank God!"

Klaus stood up once more, this time with a half-eaten bagel in his hand. There was a quick grimace that flashed across his face before he took a large bite out of the bagel. "...Delicious" he winced, gulping down some of the bagel.

"I'm done funding your drug habit" replied Five, turning to leave, a look of disgust crossed his features.

"Come on! You don't...Maybe I just wanna hang out with my brother" cried Klaus, old bagel still in hand as he shot a quick glance towards the ghost of Ben where he sat on the edge of the dumpster, "Not you...¡Mi Hermano! I love you! Even if you can't love yourself!" he cried, spitting out the chunks of old bagel.

He watched Five sneak over and steal the plumber's van that had been left unlocked and idle at the end of the alley. A quick "Hey!" was heard shouted as Five drove away, the stolen van ricocheting around the corner.

* * *

Later that day, Five found himself seated in the stolen plumber's van parked across from the Meritech building. He'd been sitting here for a few hours now, Delores still tucked away in the sports bag, watching the comings and goings of the staff and customers in the building.

Despite the faint crackle of the radio (which he'd turned down) and the constant chatter coming from Delores, he still felt rather alone. It was new, this feeling, one he'd acquired upon returning to the past. Being alone, despite being surrounded by so many. He didn't like it.

He was soon pulled from his thoughts as a persistent ringing echoed throughout the van. Digging through his pockets and the space around him, he soon found the cause of it. A burner phone at the bottom of the sports bag.

An unknown number lit up the small screen, pressing 'talk' he answered with a cautious "Hello?"

"...Hi, Five. It's Thea" came the tired reply, a slight pant to her tone. "Can you grab some milk and eggs while your out?"

"I'm busy" he replied, eyes still glued to the Meritech entrance, "Can't you do it?"

"Do you think I'd be calling...if I had the time?" The sound of the phone being readjusted and the repetitive thwack, thwack, thwack of firewood being split could be heard as Thea sighed, "I've still got to finish chopping the firewood, fix the leak in the bathroom and not to mention take stock of all the trinkets"

"...Take stock?"

"Did you really think your father didn't know Klaus sold his items? Honestly...So, milk and eggs?"

"...Uh, yeah sure, fine. I'll get them on the way home"

"Good, see you later"

It wasn't even half an hour later, when Five spotted Dr Big walking towards the building, constantly looking over his shoulder for...something. Maybe he had spotted the van? Glancing around the van, Five spotted the sports bag where Delores still laid inside.

"Oh shit" he sighed, pulling her out and placing her in between the driver's seat and the passenger seat next to him. "Hey, sorry you were in there for so long, Delores" There was a pause of silent as Delores spoke to him.

"No, I am not drunk. I'm working"

"..."

"Yes, it's about the eye thing. This is the place it was made. Or...will be made. We just have to wait"

* * *

The sky had started to fog over when Luthor and Alison found Thea outside, still slaving away at the firewood. A medium pile of chopped wood had begun to build to the right of her, to her left side, many full logs still lay.

The repetitive _thwack, thwack, thwack_ of the axe splitting the logs in two kept beat in time to the faint sounds of Valley of the Wolves' 'Lions Inside' playing through the headphones adorning her head.

Thea hadn't heard them approach as her back was to them, giving the siblings a full view of the three circular burn scars that ran the length of her spin, underneath the black open backed tanktop and orange sports bra.

The moment Luthor placed his hand on her shoulder, he had to take a quick step back to avoid the fast swipe of the axe as Thea spun around ready to attack. "Oh" she breathed as she realised who was standing there, dropping the head of the axe towards the floor as she pulled down her headphones to hang around her neck.

"Was there something you needed?" she asked looking between the two. A quick glance was shared, before Luthor stepped forward to ask.

"Do you know what happened the night Dad died?"

"Uh, he had a heart attack in the night. Y'know like the coroner said"

"So you didn't hear anything? See anything?" interjected Alison, her arms crossed.

"Well I saw Grace heading towards his room when I went to get a glass of water in the middle of the night, but I just figured she was giving him his meds"

"Meds?" repeated Alison at the same time Luthor exclaimed,

"Well, why didn't you say anything sooner?!"

"Look" stated Thea, crossing her arms and leaning on the handle of the axe, turning her attention to Luthor who seemed the most upset at this revelation; "Your father often worked late into the evenings. That's common knowledge. But he got to the point where he had to have meds to wake him up, meds to put him to sleep, meds to keep him going. It wasn't really that much of a stretch to think that's what Grace was doing...So if that's all, I've got things I need to do"

Thea pulled her headphones back on and turned back to the logs in front of her, returning to the repetitive motion as the lyrics washed over her.


	10. Mercy

Five had sat in this tin can of a van the whole day, only leaving to use the bathroom and grab some snacks from the variety store across the road. Most of the afternoon had been spent listening to Delores' chattering and fiddling with the mysterious glass eye.

Five watched as a group of kids passed by the van, kicking a soccer ball back and forth between the three of them. His thoughts began to drift back to when he had first arrived in the apocalyptic world.

_**Jumping from the van he had hot-wired, he stepped out into the desolate remains of the world. All around him he saw the world had been decorated in broken buildings, dusty rubble and fire. "No!" he cried as he spun in circles, trying to find a trace of life anywhere. Someone. Anyone. Anything.**_

"...ive! Five!" Luthor's voice cut through the memory, jerking Five upright where he had been leaning against the driver's window and towards the voice where Luthor was trying in vain to climb in the passenger's side of the van.

"What are you...oh my God" grunted Luthor as he finally heaved his huge frame in the van and closed the door, "You okay?"

"You shouldn't be...how' d you find me?" retorted Five

"Um..." muttered Luthor as both he and Five turned to look at Klaus who had Delores wrapped in his arms, huddled in the back of the van amongst the hardware.

"Hey, a little privacy, guys. We're really hitting it off back here" teased Klaus, holding Delores close to his chest.

"Get out!" demanded Five as he threw rubbish at Klaus who ducked and used Delores as a shield from the objectiles, "You can't be here! I'm in the middle of something!"

"Any luck finding your one-eyed man?" asked Klaus as he leant forward in between Five & Luthor.

"No" muttered Five angrily.

"What's he talking about?" asked Luthor

"Does it matter? It's Klaus" excused Five, "What do you want Luthor?"

"Um, so Grace may have had something to do with Dad's death and Thea may have known something about it. So I need you to come back to the academy, all right? It's important"

"It's important' You have no concept of what's important"

"Hey!" interjected Klaus, not liking the sudden turn the conversation had taken, "Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?...It was so painful" he laughed, happy that he got at least a grin out of Five before he turned away. Luthor was a harder nut to crack.

"What are you still doing here?" demanded Luthor, no longer in need of his services.

"Aye, aye, aye..." protested Klaus trying to come up with an excuse.

"What?"

"I-What? I need an excuse to hang out with my family?" he asked, hand over his heart.

"We're trying to have a serious conversation here"

What? I'm incapable of being serious? Is that what you're saying?"

"Luthor's got a point, you should get out" added Five, tired of the conversation already.

"What?" gasped Klaus, before hopping out of the van and making his way towards the variety store on the corner, "Fine!"

"What the hell are you up to?" asked Luthor, trying to get to the bottom of all of this.

"You wouldn't understand" replied Five dismissively.

"Try me. Last I checked, I was still the leader of this family"

"Well, last I checked, I'm 28 years older than you"

"You know what your problem is?"

"Really hoping you'll tell me"

"You think you're better than us. You always have. Even when we were kids" sighed Luthor finally spitting it out, "But the truth is, you're just as messed up as the rest of us. We're all you have...and you know it"

"...I don't _think_ that I'm better than you, Number One" retorted Five, grin falling from his face as Luthor continued to talk, "I _know _I am...I've done unimaginable things, things you couldn't even comprehend" he chucked darkly.

"Right"

"Just to get back here and save you all"

At that moment, Klaus burst from the corner store, arms and coat laden with products and an security man chasing after him, blowing his whistle and shouting for him to stop. "Hey bitches!" called Klaus as he ran across the road, dropping a few things here and there.

"You get back here!" demanded the security man still running after him as Klaus jumped into the taxi that had pulled to a screeching stop to avoid hitting the two.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision"

* * *

Later that night back at the academy, Thea stood in the shower, the hot water raining down on her as her thoughts drifted lazily. It had been an odd day. She had refused to leave the house, too scared that another Mog might find her. Where there was one, there was always more. They were like cockroaches that way; just a little harder to kill.

Then there had been Luthor and Alison's interrogation in the courtyard. They hadn't said in so many words, but she gathered that they thought she may have been involved in their father's death. Or at least known about it. But really? Why would she want to kill her employer? She'd have no where else to go if she had...except may prison.

Another twinge of pain pinged in her back, making her shift again. It had been doing that a lot today, it really worried her. The last time she had felt like this Three had died. Sighing, she ran her hands through her hair, washing the suds out as her thoughts moved to the past once more.

_**"Come on, Four!" called One as she ran down the stairs, garbed in festival clothes.**_

_**"How will the Garde ever become a solid council, if they can't even leave the house for festivals on time?" called Elder Pittacus as he walked down the hallway, hurrying the children along with his patience waning thin.**_

_**"Behind you!" called Four as he slid passed his grandfather and down the hall.**_

_**"I can't find my hair pin!" cried Seven, hurriedly shifting through her drawers, throwing things to the floor as she did so.**_

_**"It needed a little bit of polishing after the last ceremony" comforted Elder Solon, placing said hair pin Seven's hair.**_

_**"Thanks, Solon" whispered Eight before rushing out of the room, correcting her garment as she went.**_

_**Solon walked down the hallway, passing Elder Thales and Bias as they herded more of the children garbed in their festival clothes towards the door. "Ready to go?" she asked the pair, earning a smile and nod in return.**_

_**"Where are my shoes?" called Five as he ran across the hallway, into another room.**_

_**"Oh! Nine! Get down from there!" called Solon as she reached upwards and pulled the laughing Nine down from where he hang from the ceiling, catching him and shooing him out the door once he was upright.**_

_**"Oh Six!" called Solon as she stopped the girl who was trying and failing to tie the Samghâti of her robes. **_

_**"It keeps falling down!" complained Six as she let go of the fabric to let Solon to it up right.**_

_**"There we go" said Solon as she finished tying off the knot, before sending Six on her way.**_

_**"...Thank you for this honour..." came a quiet voice that trailed off as Solon appeared in the doorway.**_

_**"Remember Ten, just focus on a spot away from everyone else and you'll do fine" said Solon quietly as she came to stand in front of Ten, hands on her shoulders.**_

_**"...You think so?" asked Ten , looking up at Solon.**_

_**"I know so"**_

* * *

The ever familiar sound of gunfire rang throughout the small bathroom, pulling Thea from her musings, now dressed in her pajamas (an oversized graphic t-shirt with an cartoon alien on the front with the caption _'She's beauty, she's grace, she came from outer space' _and cat print boxer shorts), she made her way into the hallway, tying her hair into Dutch braids as she did so.

Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. Who would be shooting in the house? Pausing to listen, she heard the faint sounds of fighting coming from the living room. Grabbing the decorative Viking axe off the wall, Thea cautiously followed the sounds towards the living room.

The scene she came across was not what she was expecting. Luthor, Alison and Diego were all fighting two masked intruders armed with rifles. The same two mask gunman who had been after Five at the thrift store. Shit.

Ducking behind a pillar to avoid the bullets that the gunmen had fired off into the room as a distraction. Thea peeked around the corner to see that the two had split up. The feminine voiced puppy mask heading one way, the masculine voiced bear mask heading the other.

Gripping tight to the axe, Thea followed the Puppy quietly as she could, loralite covering her skin once more. The thin layer, a comfort against the unknown person in front of her. She waited until the Puppy had her back to her, before she attacked.

Swinging the axe down as hard as she could; she fell to the floor as the axe lodged itself in the woman's arm. Unfortunately, the axe didn't do much damage, it was only decorative after all and Thea quickly dropped it in favour of hand to hand.

The masked woman quickly pulled the axe from her arm and flung it to the side, where it clattered to a stop. "You little shit!" cursed Puppy as she pointed the gun at Thea and began firing at will.

Bullets ricocheted off of the loralite, chipping away chunks and leaving cracks as they did so, with teeth bared Thea launched herself forward again. A quick glance over the gunman's shoulder revealed Klaus in nothing but two towels and a pair of headphones.

A punch to the head with the butt of the gun knocked her to the floor and left her feeling dizzy. It also brought her attention back to the fight at hand. Rocking back onto her heels Thea went to attack again when she felt something heavy hit her in the back of her head. Darkness fell quickly, a loud thump fell next to her as she heard a voice say "Got 'em"


	11. Man on the Moon

"Where the hell were you?!" demanded Cha-Cha as she opened the door to the motel room, and moved to sit on her bed.

"When you didn't come out, I figured we'd just regroup here" replied Hazel munching on his donut where he lay lazily on his bed

"And you stopped...to get a jelly donut?"

"...Maybe"

"After everything we just went through?"

"Well, I needed some comfort food after that disaster"

"Yeah, tonight's a total disaster"

"...Well, I'm not so sure about that" replied Hazel. Making their way out to the car, they opened the boot to reveal two bodies duct taped and bound together. The brother, Klaus was wide awake and screaming at the two through the duct tape on his mouth, whilst the housekeeper had been tucked into Klaus' chest, still unconscious.

* * *

The next day found Klaus and Thea strapped to two chairs in the motel room. Klaus had been stripped of his coat and all but one of his towels while Thea had remained in her boxer shorts, her shirt had been removed and tossed aside leaving her scars on full display.

The only thing they had left on her torso, was the circular pendant she wore and that was only because they had been burned when they had tried to remove it. Both were decorated in bleeding lacerations and bruises.

The empty roll of duct tape that had been used to bind them, first in the car,and then to the chairs, sat on the desk. A strip of the sheets had been ripped up and shoved into Thea's mouth, tied at the back of her head to act as a gag. All the curtains had been shut and the doors and windows had been locked. There was no way out.

"Number Five! Where is he?!" demanded Cha-Cha (now void of her mask) as she strangled Klaus once again, while Thea sat across from the two, forced to watch as he was tortured. Just as he was to her. Her head lolled against her shoulder, her body slumped over in the chair, too tired to move. They may have been human but they sure knew what they were doing or at least they were quick learners.

Typically she would have been able to fight her way out, she had done so before. But the duo had soon discovered the double-edged sword that was loralite. There were many shards decorating the floor around her, having broken off when she first regained consciousness, and the two had used them as instruments in her torture. Flashes appeared as she remembered old lessons about the pros and cons of loralite. What a great weapon it could be for you, and to you.

She couldn't give all the credit to the duo though, the pain in her back had intensified and she feared that one of her sibling's deaths were near. Three was already dead and so Four would be next. She hoped that he was okay, she didn't want to loose another sibling, no matter how far away they were. Even across multiverses, she still loved her siblings.

"...Don't...stop" croaked Klaus, bringing Thea back to the horrible reality, "...I'm almost...there"

"Is that a...?" trailed Cha-Cha glancing down into Klaus' lap.

"Yep" Hazel quickly confirmed causing Cha-Cha to cease the strangulation and for Klaus to come up coughing and gasping for air. Thea let out a large sigh through her nose and continued to gnaw at the gag in her mouth as she waited for what would happen next.

"Oh!...There's nothing like a little...strangling to get the blood flowing. Am I right?" chuckled Klaus as he came down from his high.

"What is so funny, you asshole?" demanded Hazel as he stood up and smacked Klaus over the back of the head.

"Ow!...Well, for one...you spent the last ten hours...beating us senseless, and you've learned absolutely nothing. I mean nobody tells me shit and she's just the housekeeper. The truth is we're the two people in that house no one will even notice is gone" rambled Klaus.

Ouch. Well he wasn't wrong. Maybe Pogo or Grace would notice her missing? But then again, they might just think she'd quit, gone to find other work and have her replaced. She was just the housekeeper after all and with the children home again, who really needed her around anyway?The thought made tears well up in her eyes. She wasn't needed, not really. Maybe it _would_ be easier just to disappear.

"You assholes kidnapped the wrong people!" laughed Klaus earning another smack to the head.

"Please make him stop talking" complained Hazel as he walked to the bathroom.

"Let's waterboard him" suggested Cha-Cha placing a bloody hand towel over his face.

"No" Klaus protested weakly as Hazel came back and began to pour a bucket of water over his head. Klaus gasped and gurgled, his mouth wide open as the water flowed down him and the towel wrapped tight around his face making him whimper.

"Ah! Oh, I needed that" he breathed sucking the water from the towel as it slid off his face. He was doing a good job of keeping the attention on him and not Thea. He knew how to piss people off, he had the practise.

"Oh come on!" cried Hazel.

"I was...so parched. Thank you...thank you"

* * *

"Oh God this is brutal" complained Hazel as he and Cha-Cha reconvened in the bathroom, "What the hell is wrong with those two?!"

"They're freaks, like his brother" replied Cha-Cha leaning in the doorway.

"And everyone else in that house. Just another example of management sticking it to the working man"

"Come on, not this again"

"They should've warned this was an atypical assignment. Hello? Hazard pay?"

"Come on, we do the job and we move on to the next one. Just like we always do. Remember Trinidad? We worked that guy solid for what? Two days, two nights?"

"...How could I forget Trinidad?"

"Attaboy. Let's go"

"Alright! Come on Hazel"

* * *

Dressed in comfy blue sweats, Dr Big fell into his car, completely caught off guard by the knife suddenly pressed to his throat. "One chance, that's all you've got" threatened Five, "One chance to tell me exactly what's going on in that lab"

"I...I manufacture prosthetic devices for fake patients" stuttered Big "I bill insurance companies and then sell them for cash on the black market"

"Including eyeballs?"

"Yeah, they're my biggest seller...I mean, they sell like hotcakes. I-I've got a list, a waiting list, probably 20 buyers"

"So the serial number I told you..."

"Uh, could've already been brought. Yes, off-off the books"

"I need that list Lance. Names & numbers, and I need it now!"

"I don't have it. I-I mean, not on me. The only copy's in my safe at the lab"

"Well, you better start the car, then. 'Cause we're going on a field trip"

"O-okay"

"Now"

* * *

"...Like I said master Luthor, Number Five hasn't lived in this room since he was a boy" stated Pogo as he watched Luthor rifle through the things in Five's room.

"Yeah, I know, but we need to warn him. He doesn't even know we were attacked. He doesn't know they're looking for him, he doesn't know-" retorted Luthor, only to be cut off by Diego who was passing by.

"What are you doing here?" asked Diego, coming into the room.

"Uh...Do you know about Mom?" Luthor asked instead, standing up to his full height.

"...Well, it looks like you got what you wanted, one way or another, right?"

"Wanna tell me what you're doing here?"

"Looking for Five"

"Lemme guess, you're gonna save the day?"

"It's what's I do. Asshole"

"Really? Last I checked, you mopped floors"

"And what do you do? Sit on the moon for four years, waiting for orders?"

"Boys. This won't help us find Five" scolded Pogo, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You keep on being a loyal soldier, even after everything our father did to you" continued Diego, ignoring Pogo in the process.

"What? You mean save my life?" retorted Luthor, still very much his father's son.

"No, I mean, turn you into a monster" replied Diego as he leant against the wardrobe. So full of anger, Luthor punched a hole straight through the wardrobe door next to Diego's head, "Can't hide it anymore, champ"

"He had a difficult decision to make and he made it" defended Luthor.

"Grow up Luthor. We're not 13 anymore-"

"That's what leaders do, by the way-"

"He sent you on that mission all _alone_. Almost got you _killed_"

"Yeah, well at least he was there. Where were you? You and everyone else in this family? You walked out"

"And thank _Christ_ that I did or I would have ended up just like _you. _Let me ask you a question, when you watch one of those nature shows-"

"Diego, please" cut in Pogo weakly.

"...does it turn you on?" continued Diego, once again ignoring Pogo.

"So what? Is he just an animal to you too now, Diego, huh?" snapped Luthor, pointing to Pogo.

"Don't-"

"Enough!" snapped Pogo finally reaching his last straw, "This house was attacked. We barely got out with our lives. And Grace...she wasn't so lucky. Your brother is missing, and this is how you arise to the occasion? Take your nonsense elsewhere. Now" ordered Pogo.

"...Sorry Pogo" chorused the boys as they headed sullenly out the door.


	12. Begging You for Mercy

"Maybe you're not hitting them hard enough" suggested Hazel as he bit into a cracker. They had taken a break for a bit off to the side, getting nowhere with their captives. They were just so goddamn stubborn.

"Me?" asked Cha-Cha affronted by the accusation, "You're the one with the stupid orthopedic bracelet"

"I told you already, it's just for support"

* * *

Off to the side, Thea sat still strapped to that stupid chair, her butt going to sleep from sitting still for too long. Her abusers had moved on from using the loralite to hurt her, and were using more humane methods. If you could call them that.

The pain was starting to get to her though, obviously she had felt the pain when it had happened, but because of the loralite in her system, her healing had slowed down. In fact any legacy which would of been of help, had slowed down. She could barely keep her head up, let alone fight her way out.

"How you doing, kid?" Klaus tiredly questioned, trying in vain to ignore Ben and the babbling babushka in the corner. Thea merely rolled her eyes over to him and gave a small grunt, the gag still firmly in her mouth.

Klaus wore a look of concern on his face at the girl in front of him. Cha-Cha and Hazel had removed both their shirts when they had first arrived, leaving him in only a towel and her in cat print boxer shorts. Her now dry hair had begun to fall out of their limp braids and lacerations decorated her torso in varying shapes and sizes. He could see the edges of old scars peeking over her shoulders, but it's not like he could judge. He had his fair amount of old scars too.

It had hurt him to see her like this, she reminded him of a cross between Ben and Five. All bite and no bark. She had tracked Cha-Cha and Hazel with her eyes when she had first awoken, like a caged animal. The gag had been placed in her mouth after she had tried to lunge forward, jaws snapping at outstretched limbs and an animalistic growl had sounded in the back of her throat.

But that was hours ago, the cobalt shards that had fallen from her body and used to torture her had done their job. Maybe too well. She looked ready to pass out again, if only to escape from the pain.

"...Withdrawal. It's starting now isn't it? It must be" commented Ben, bringing Klaus from his thoughts, "Otherwise whose the dead babushka?"

"I don't know" sighed Klaus "But it's driving me crazy. The bitch won't shut up!"

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" scolded Hazel from the other side of the room, "What did I say about eyes front?!"

"Stay calm, Klaus" sighed Ben.

* * *

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way" said Cha-Cha, thinking aloud, "Remember section 76, sub A, of the training manual?"

"I barely remember what we had for breakfast at this point" replied Hazel despondently.

"To paraphrase, torturing works best when you know who you're torturing. Hand me his coat" she ordered, pulling her mask back into place.

"Wait, wait, wait..." protested Klaus as he watched the duo rifle through the many pockets on his coat, "That's mine. That's my personal stuff..."

"Now, let's see..." muttered Cha-Cha as she pulled our a small bag of drugs, "Oh! What do we have here?"

"Let me see that!" called Hazel as he caught the small packet thrown his way.

"Hey-no, no, no. be careful with that. That's my...my asthma medication" cried Klaus as he watched Hazel stomp the pills into the carpet, "No! Wait, hold on, hold on...We can have conversation. I mean we're all adults here" he pleaded.

"Okay, you want more?" taunted Hazel.

"No! No! No, no, no! Stop! Stop! Please, listen..." Klaus continued to beg as Hazel and Cha-Cha took a bite out of the weed infested chocolate.

"You gonna tell them that it's special chocolate?" asked Ben, arms crossed.

"Not until their high as kites" whispered Klaus.

"Klaus, be strong"

"This could all be yours for the low, low price of telling us everything" taunted Cha-Cha as she waved a bag of drugs above his head.

"...Okay, fine" sighed Klaus, finally done, tears pouring down his face, "Okay, I don't know where Five is. I wasn't lying about that. But I can tell you that he's...hasn't-hasn't been making much sense since he came back" He tried to ignore the fact that Thea's eyes snapped to him, and glared as much as she could.

"Elaborate" drawled Hazel.

"...Uh, he's just...he's been acting like a-a-a lunatic. He's been sitting in this van in front a-a lab or something, and...looking for the owner of an eyeball. One of those fake ones"

"That makes no sense"

"Hold on, just hold on" interjected Cha-Cha, "Tell us more about this eye, and why is it so important?"

"He said it had something to do with the end of times, or something"

* * *

"This is it, it's still here. This is Five's van" said Luthor as he and Diego came around the corner, the van still sitting in the spot as it was yesterday.

"Go, go" muttered Diego as they came up to the passenger's side door. Luthor tried to open the door, rattling the handle, trying not to actually pull the door off its hinges. With a sigh, Diego moved forward to pick the lock. The door popped open in an instant.

Once again, their goddamn male pride got in the way, as both tried to fit in the door at once. It took them two tries before Luthor turned to Diego using the _"I'm_ One" excuse, before Diego tried the backdoor. Luthor refused to acknowledge it would have been easier for him to get in the back.

They both searched the van for any sign of a clue of their missing brother, Diego coming across an open sports bag amongst all the plumber's tools. Looking inside, he found an odd array of items, the most notable being Vanya's autobiography. It was tattered to hell and covered in scribbles.

Diego gave a low whistle as he flicked through the pages, none of the notes making any sense to him. Until he came to the front page, where a library stamp had been placed underneath the title, amongst all the notes. "I know where to find Five" he called to Luthor, showing him the page.

* * *

Five pulled Big along like a small child, making sure to keep the knife hidden, but still seen enough so that Big knew he still had it. That is until they came around the side of the building, smoke pouring out of the broken windows.

Five took off around the corner, completely forgetting about Big in his need to get there. A half-baked idea forming in his mind as he desperately thought that maybe it wasn't so bad, or maybe he could jump in grab the files and jump out. Surely the safe would protect them against the fire? Right?

Just as Five came to a stop at the entrance to the building, a large ball of fire exploded outwards, exploding the last of the remaining windows and throwing Five onto his back on the ground. He pulled himself up with a grunt, looking at the damage. All that time, wasted. Sirens could be heard in the background, but Five ignored them, looking on in disbelief as his hope too, went up in smoke.

* * *

The sound of Klaus' muffled screams woke Thea from the cat nap she was having in the closet. They had been rebound, gagged and shut in here when Cha-Cha and Hazel had left the motel. Klaus was shoved against one wall of the small closet, taking up most of the space and Thea leant against the other, curling up as much as she possibly could, the pain in her back making her scrunch her eyes close as she constantly shifted trying to get rid of the pain. It kind of reminded her of a cross between really bad period cramps and being stabbed repeatedly.

"Klaus, Klaus!" called Ben, hovering over Klaus' shoulder, "Breathe. You're in the worst of it now, just try and stay calm"

The sound of the vacuum cleaner could be heard in the room, no doubt the cleaning lady. Thea was too focused on her pain to notice the new addition, but Klaus did notice and began to scream, making as much noise as he could. The cleaner paused for a moment to listen to the pants and groans, but wrote it off as the room next door having a bit of...fun.

"She can't hear you" stated Ben as Klaus continued to whine and groan through the noise,"You know what the worst part of being dead is? You're stuck. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to change. That's the real torture, if you gotta know. watching your brother take for granted everything you lost and pissing it all away"

Klaus was reduced to tears, sniffing and whimpering in the tiny little closet.

* * *

Detective Eudora Patch walked through yet another crime scene, this one involving the now burnt Meritech labs. Her co-worker had waved her over with a burnt prosthetic. "Well, the fire inspector says that the speed of the blaze indicates an accelerant was used" he explained as he picked up a piece of charred evidence, "Oh! And, uh...we...found this"

"Oh" muttered Patch as she stared at the charred fake dog ear, "Get that over to the lab immediately...I'll be right back" She wandered over to the plumbers van that sat on the side of the road untouched. It was covered in dust, but otherwise remained intact.

A small motel card had been placed underneath the windscreen wipers and across the windscreen of the car a message had been written. Leaning inside the driver's side window she was able to read the dusty message; _'Your brother says hi'_. A memory surfaced of Diego telling her his brother had gone missing yesterday.

"Son of a bitch"


	13. One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

Inside the public library, Luthor and Diego went their separate ways in order to track down Five quickly, however they soon met on the third level having no such luck. "Anything?" asked Luthor as he came into view.

"No" muttered Diego, looking down over the balcony, "...You wanna know why I left?" he asked out of the blue.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Why I left the academy"

"Yeah, 'cause you couldn't handle me being Number One"

"No. Because that's what you do when you're 17. You move out, become your own person, grow up"

"Oh yeah. You're a _real_ grown-up"

"At least I make my own decisions. You've never had to hold down a job. Pay bills...You ever even been with a girl?"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about"

"Look, you wanna blame me, blame us for leaving...that's okay. But maybe you're asking yourself the wrong question. Maybe it's not about why we left, maybe it's about why you stayed"

"I stayed because the world needed me"

"You stayed because you couldn't let go of how things used to be. The academy, Dad, with Alison...Dad's dead. Mom too, now. We're orphans again, dude. And things are never gonna go back to the way they used to...be" Diego trailed off at the end, catching the tail end of woman's sentence.

"Do you ever stop talking?" sighed Luthor as Diego ignored him and walked off, "Well, that was easy" Luthor muttered as he followed after Diego. The duo followed the sounds of laughter around the corner and found their missing brother. Five was passed out, propped up against a pillar, with an empty bottle of vodka in his hand, his arm wrapped around Delores and multiple equations ran up and down the pillars on either side of him.

"Is he, um...?" gasped Luthor

"Drunk as a skunk" smirked Diego as Five dropped the bottle with a snore and rolled to a stop by his feet.

* * *

"You idiot!" cried Cha-Cha as she entered the now clean room.

"What?" whined Hazel as he too came in the door.

"You didn't put the _'Do Not Disturb'_ sign on the door!"

"I did! I know I...shit!" he cried as he realised he put the sign on the wrong side of the door, "Oh my God! They're still here!...Hi" Thea and Klaus were swiftly pulled from the closet, whimpering and groaning, until they were placed once more in the middle of the room.

"What's he saying?" muttered Hazel as Klaus continued to mutter words behind the duct tape. Cha-Cha leant forward and ripped off the tape none too gently.

"Oh!" gasped Klaus.

"What are you saying? repeated Cha-Cha.

"You guys are scarier without the masks" Klaus chuckled, receiving a smack across the face for his efforts.

"That's no way to say hello to your old friends, now is it?" scolded Hazel, hands on hips.

"...You've clearly never met my friends" gasped Thea from where she sat, tossed on the floor, leaning against the bed. Her gag, thankfully had come loose enough to push out of her mouth, it felt odd, after having it in her mouth for so long. She received a kick in the stomach for that.

"Can't we call it a night?" whined Klaus from his chair, "I already gave you what you wanted. Just please...please let us go. Please"

"Well, technically we want you brother. Is your brother here now?" said Cha-Cha.

"Uh...you're gonna have to be a little more specific on that" chuckled Klaus as he looked off to the left where Ben lay strewn across the bed. He was pistol whipped across the face. "Ow! I told you already. He's not coming. No one will"

"Well, Number Five knows now. We left him a message and when he comes for you, we'll be ready"

The room was suddenly thrown into darkness as the lights were turned off the the curtains pulled once more. The duo retreated to the bathroom, the only light source in the room and Thea curled up on herself as much as she could, listening to the sounds of Klaus whimpering and crying above her.

Her back felt like it was on fire. By now she knew that one of her siblings was in serious trouble, she had seen glimpses of Five and Nine fighting each other. A flash of a knife, a glint of a blade. It didn't look good.

* * *

Luthor carried Five and Delores as he and Diego walked down the alleyway. Five was still passed out in Luthor's arms, but it looked like he was starting to wake up. "...We can't go back to the house" said Luthor as he readjusted the load in his arms, "It's not secure. Those psychopaths could come back at any moment"

"My place is closer" stated Diego, "No one will look for him there" At that moment, Five awoke with a loud belch and a sigh, clutching tightly to Delores.

"If you vomit on me..." threatened Luthor.

"You know what's funny? Ah! I'm going through puberty. Twice" giggled Five, leaning back in Luthor's arms. "And I...I drank that whole bottle, did't I? That's what you do in the world you love goes bye-bye. Poof! It's gone...What are you guys talking about?"

"Two masked intruders attacked the academy last night" sighed Luthor.

"They came looking for you" stated Diego, "So I need you to focus. What do they want?"

"They sent Hazel and Cha-Cha" slurred Five.

"Who?" asked Diego, spinning around to face Five and Luthor.

"Y'know I hate codenames" grumbled Luthor.

"Ah, the best of the best. Except for me of course" chuckled Five.

"The best of what?"

"Y'know Delores always said she hated it when I drink. You should've made me a Shirley-"

"Hey!" snapped Diego coming to a stop in front of the two.

"Hm? Yeah?" muttered Five, trying to focus his drunken gaze on Diego.

"I need you to focus. What do this Hazel and Cha-Cha want?" Five merely grinned in response, "We just wanna protect you" added Diego.

"Protect me? I don't need your protection, Diego. Do you have any idea how people I've killed? No. I'm the Four frickin' Horsemen. The apocalypse is coming" slurred Five before he turned away and vomited over his shoulder. Both Luthor and Diego turned away in disgust.

* * *

As Cha-Cha slapped a piece of tape of Klaus' mouth, Thea suddenly jerked, her body writhing on the floor as muffled screams flowed from her mouth. "Jesus!" cursed Hazel as he came to a stop next to Cha-Cha, coming out of the bathroom at the noise to see what was happening.

Thea's back arched in the air and the smell of burning flesh started to permeate. Klaus gagged at the smell. It didn't take long for her breath to come in gasps, choking on the gag in her mouth and her eyes scrunched tight in pain. It was horrible to watch, it felt like hours.

Suddenly her body went still. No more gasping breaths, no more jerking movements. Just silence. Tears began to pour down Klaus' face. She couldn't be! No, no, no! He didn't want another one! Not another one!

"Shit...Check her" said Hazel giving Cha-Cha a nudge in the ribs.

"You check her" replied Cha-Cha.

"...Fine" grumbled Hazel as he knelt down and placed two fingers on her neck, "She's gone" he added wiping his hand on his pants as he stood up.

"Shit" cursed Cha-Cha staring down at the body.

"At least we've still got the other one"

* * *

Patch walked down the motel hallway after she had left a voicemail for Diego, listening and looking for anything out of the ordinary. A faint thumping could be heard coming from one of the rooms, pulling her handgun from her waistband and entered the room, thanks to the master key given to her by the cleaner.

The door opened with a quiet click and beep and Patch entered the room to find Klaus strapped to a chair and banging his head on the table. Thea still lay on the floor bound by her feet and hands, the gag now back in place.

"Are you Diego's brother?" whispered Patch. Klaus nodded his head furiously, "I'm Detective Patch" Pulling out a pocket knife, she cut off the duct tape on his hands before she moved to free Thea.

"And the girl?" she asked sawing through tape.

"...Thea" rasped Klaus, letting out a low whine from where he sat staring at the body, no more tears would come. He hadn't known the girl for very long, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. She was so young! The fact that she had suffered through the same torture did create a warped bond between the two. She had threatened him with a teaspoon, for Christ's sake!

He watched as Patch too, knelt to feel for a pulse, before standing ashen faced when finding none. Going back towards Klaus, she pushed him behind the furthest bed towards the vent, pointing her gun towards the bathroom door as it squeaked open.

She fired two shots as the assailant peeked from the bathroom, gun in hand. "Police!" she called, placing herself in front of Klaus and Thea's body "Drop the gun, or you're going down!" An arm came out of the bathroom and a handgun was thrown across the room. "I'm coming out. Don't shoot" called Hazel walking out of the bathroom with his hands in the air.

"Hands behind your head, asshole" ordered Patch. Klaus took the opportunity to crawl inside the open vent, taking the briefcase in there with him. He didn't look behind him. He couldn't.

"Okay. Just don't shoot"

"On your knees" said Patch as she waited for the man to kneel, hands still behind his head. The sound of a gun going rang throughout the room, for a moment she thought she had accidentally fired at the man. That was until she felt a pain in her chest. Her body fell to the floor with a thump, blood soaking her shirt as the life seeped out of her eyes.

* * *

Klaus sat on the bus, wrapped in a bloody towel and coat. The large black briefcase clutched to his chest, trying not to let his mind linger on what happened in the motel room "Oh! Please be money...Only money. Or...treasure...Or diamonds" he whispered prying open the case. He disappeared with a flash of blue.

* * *

Luthor dumped the snoring Five none too gently on Diego's bed, arranging him so that if he vomited again, at least he would choke. Diego placed Delores on a spare chair in the room, patting her bald head once he did so.

"Funny. If I didn't know he was such a prick, I'd say he looks almost adorable in his sleep" commented Diego as he came to stand by Luthor, by the head of the bed.

"Well, don't worry. He'll sober up eventually. Be back to his normal, unpleasant self" replied Luthor.

"Yeah, I can't wait that long. I need to find out what his connection is with these lunatics before someone else dies"

"All that stuff he was saying before...what do you think he meant by that?"

Diego ignored Luthor's musings as he moved towards the door, where a thump and footsteps could be heard coming closer. Shushing Luthor, he went to open the door, knife in hand. The door quickly swung inwards to reveal Al, the owner of the boxing ring. "...If you throw another one of those goddamn knives at me, I'm pressing charges!"

"What do you want, Al?" asked Diego, relaxing his stance.

"I ain't your secretary"

"Yeah"

"Some lady called for you, said she needs your help"

"What lady?"

"I dunno. Some, uh, detective. I think she said her name was, uh, Blotch, or something"

"Patch?"

"She needs you to meet her at that motel, a dump on Calhoun"

"When?"

"About half an hour ago...Uh said she found your brother" said Al as he left the room.

"Well, that doesn't make sense" muttered Diego, glancing over at the sleeping form of Five. Before the realisation hit the both of them. "Klaus"

"Go. I'll wait here with...him" sighed Luthor as Diego slammed the door on the way out.

* * *

A couple of moments later, Diego found cautiously made his way into the motel room; the door having been left wide open. "Klaus?" he called coming through the door. His heart seemed to stop as he found Patch's body on the floor, the blood pooling around it.

He ignored the fact that he almost tripped over the body of Thea in his rush to make it to Patch. "No, no, no! Eudora! No, no, no!..." he rushed as he fell to his knees next to her body. He rolled her over, tears blurring his vision and mixing with the blood on his hands as he fruitlessly tried to stop the already drying blood.

He pounded on the ground next to her head in anger, before cradling her head, practically sobbing into her chest. "...Why didn't you wait?" he rasped. He was about to leave, the sound of the police sirens causing him to leave when he caught the sound of a low groan caught his attention.

Looking over his shoulder, he focused on the body he had almost tripped over on the way in. He vaguely recognised her from a few days ago. Thea or something. "...Kid?" he asked, shaking her shoulder; only to receive another low groan and for her face to scrunch up in pain.

The girl was only wearing printed boxer shorts, giving him a clear view of the injuries she had acquired during her ordeal. Dried blood, lacerations and bruises decorated her skin. A circular pendant hung from her neck, the only thing that seemed to be undamaged.

Wrapping her one of the sheets, Diego lifted the girl in his arms; one arm under her legs, the other holding her back, before he made his way out the door. He gave one more tear-filled glance back at Eudora's body before hurrying out the door, skirting the police and making his way back to his car.

Five had some things to answer for.


	14. Number Five

_**Five seemed to spend his whole life walking down the grubby dirt road, pulling Delores and his supplies behind him. Moving from a toy wagon, to a cart, to a push bike; the weather always pushing down on him, abusing him.**_

_**"Do you uh...remember that little mansion just outside the city limits?" an older Five asked Delores, sipping from a silver goblet as he did so, "Where we..."**_

_**"..."**_

_**"Yeah, well, it turns out the wine cellar was untouched" he chuckled, "Picked up a few cases of your favourite Bordeaux"**_

_**"..."**_

_**"Ah, that's an exaggeration. I don't drink that much. You know, I work hard all day. I-"**_

_**"..."**_

_**"Why would you even say that?..." The sound of rubble falling as it was moved. Reacting quickly, Five pointed the rifle in the direction of the noise, locking his sights on an elegantly dressed woman.**_

_**He thought he was hallucinating again. The woman was dressed in all black, black dress, black peacoat, black briefcase and black heels, like she'd just stepped out of the 40s and not an apocalyptic world.**_

* * *

"When's this supposed to happen?" Luthor asked the hungover Five, now awake and sitting upright.

"I can't give you the exact hour, but...from what I could gather, we have four days left" Five replied sullenly.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!"

"It wouldn't have mattered"

"Of course it would. We could of banded together and helped you try to stop this thing"

"For the record, you already tried"

"What do ya mean?"

"...I found all of you...your bodies"

"...We die?"

_**A young Five stood grief stricken at the scene before him. Five bodies lay strewn amongst the ruins before him, five very familiar-if older- bodies. **_

"Horribly" replied Five, reliving his memories, "You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world"

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you" said Five as he pulled out the glass eye from his pocket, rolling it around in his fingers before handing it over to Luthor, "Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down"

"Whose head?"

"Like I said, I don't know"

"Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try-"

"No, that's a dead end...It's just another hunk of glass"

At that moment the door to the room burst open, Diego marched in holding tightly to the groaning body in his hands and an angry scowl on his face. "Piece of shit! You have any idea of what you just did?!" he demanded as he ducked under Luthor's arms and went to place the body on the bed, the sheet still covering most of her.

Once he had straightened once more, he tried to launch himself at Five only for Luthor to grab him around the middle and hoist him into the air. "Nope, let me- Get your ape hands off of me!" he grunted trying to wriggle free.

"I can do this as long as it takes for you to calm down" retorted Luthor.

"Fine" panted Diego as he stopped struggling.

"Now, wanna tell us what you're talking about?"

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of the Griddy's shootout and then at Gimble Brothers after the guys in masks attacked the academy looking for _him"_

"None of which is any of your concern" replied Five

"It is now, they just killed my friend and tortured Thea" replied Diego pointing towards the body on the bed. A strange look passed over Five's face as he shifted and reached over to pull back the sheet covering the body.

It was Thea. She was bloody and bruised, the only thing covering her was a pair of boxer shorts and a pendant. Five's hand clenched around the sheet in his hands, as he looked over the damage.

"Jesus" breathed Luthor from over his shoulder. Thea let out yet another low groan as she shifted slightly, revealing more of the wounds hidden under the sheet, "Who are they Five?"

"...They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler" replied Five, still staring down at Thea before him, not meeting his brothers' eyes, "She sent them to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way...well, fair game"

"And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it that they pay" promised Diego before he turned to leave the room looking for the first aid kit.

"That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people more dangerous than you" warned Five.

"Yeah, we'll see about that"

* * *

About half an hour later, after the painstaking process of patching up the wounds decorating Thea and dressing her in one of Diego's t-shirts, she awoke. It was not quietly and it was not subtle. It was quick, as she jerked herself upright and leant over the side, expelling the blue contents of her stomach onto the floor.

Five was lucky enough that he had been across the room, fiddling with a trinket as he snooped through Diego's things. Luthor's shoes were not so lucky. "Ugh" groaned Luthor in disgust as he moved out of the splash zone, just as Thea came to a stop and flopped back on the bed.

Diego, having chosen that moment to return, took one look at the scene before walking back out the door. He soon returned with a mop and bucket, a bottle of water and a towel. The latter of which he handed to Thea as he quietly mopped up the mess on the floor.

Once the mess was gone, Five had to help Thea sit up against the headboard, before sitting on the edge of the bed, the rubbish bin next to him, just in case. "How are you feeling?" asked Diego, uncharacteristically quiet as Thea took small sips from the water water bottle.

"...Okay" she rasped, coughing slightly at the acidic taste in her mouth.

"Can you tell us what happened? What do you remember?"

"...Um...there were masked gunmen in the house. The ones from the thrift store"

"You were at Gimble Brothers too?"

"Mm...uh...they were fighting you three. Um, I followed the dog when the split up...we fought, I got knocked out. Um I remember waking up strapped to a chair, we were tortured for information, um..." rambled Thea as she rubbed her head, the start of a headache beginning to form.

"We?" interjected Luthor.

"Uh, me and Klaus" replied Thea. It took a moment for what she had said to sink in, before she bolted upright,"Klaus! Is he alright? Where is he?" she worried. A quick glance was shared between Luthor and Diego. "What?"

"...He wasn't there" replied Diego

"He might've gotten away though" added Luthor at the ashen look on Thea's face.

"Was there anything else?" asked Diego pushing for more information.

"Uh...I passed out towards the end. I think I woke up though at one point. There was a woman next to me on the floor, a detective, I think...I dunno. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here"

"What about the burns on your back? How'd you get those?" asked Luthor, arms crossed.

"...What?" breathed Thea, eyes wide before she stripped off the shirt and ripped the bandages from her body, ignoring both the pain and the protests from the boys as she did so. She shakily stood in front of the full length mirror and turned her back to and looked over her shoulder as much as she could.

When she saw what Luthor was talking about, she broke out into tears. They rushed down her face, blurring her vision and she would have dropped to the floor had Five not caught her in time as her legs gave out.

"No, no, no!" she wailed, her hands over her mouth as she continued to stare at the new mark she had gained. Instead of the usual three circular burn scars on her back, she now had four. However, the fourth was lower down her spine than the other three, leaving a fair amount of space between the top three.

No longer able to look at herself, she turned and buried her face in Five's shoulder. She clung to the boy holding her, the force of her sobs shaking her body as they sunk slowly to the ground. It couldn't be real! Please! Not another one! Please not Seven!

"...They're just scars" muttered Five trying to soothe the sobbing girl in his arms, but it only seemed to make her cry harder.

* * *

It took awhile, but eventually Thea was able to calm down. She now sat snuggled in the back corner of the bed, her back had been rebound in bandages and burn salve applied to the new scar. Here she sat with a sheet wrapped around her like a safety net and tucked into Five's side as she played with the pendant in her hands.

"...The scars. What are they?" Luthor tentatively asked from where he sat opposite the bed, trying to make himself as small and non-threatening as possible. Thea didn't speak for a moment, until Diego tacked on.

"Please Thea, if there's someone after you or hurting you-"

"It's not that kind of scar" Thea suddenly cut off, not taking her eyes off the pendant in her hands.

"What?"

"It's like-like a...There's no human word for it" she paused, struggling to find the right verbiage, "The closest word would be 'binding' or...'curse', maybe?"

"And what does this...curse do?" Five asked quietly watching her hands deftly play with the pendant, never once dropping it.

"...It acts as a safeguard. To protect the next generation of council elders. In order for us to fully die, we have to be killed in order-from one to ten...When one of our siblings is killed, we experience the death as if it were our own, and then we're branded with their mark...It's like some kind of twisted countdown. " sighed Thea.

"...What? Are you-are you saying that you're not human?" stuttered Luthor only to receive a glare from Five as Thea continued to explain.

"We each have a different brand, this is mine" she stated showing them the pendant she had been twirling around in her fingers. "The worst part is, when the Garde reunite, the...binding becomes void and they can kill us any which way they please"

"...If what you're saying is true, then who died?" Diego asked cautiously.

"Seven" sniffed Thea, her voice cracking slightly, "It's not usually that bad, the transfer. But the feedback from the broken binding combined with the loralite poisoning...my body just couldn't take it, it was like hitting the restart button" sighed Thea.

Silence fell over the room as what she had said, tried to sink in, that was until Five quietly spoke up. "That man back at Gimble Brothers...?" he trailed off, the question still hanging in the air.

"He was a Mogadorian, they're a warrior race, hunters. His people massacred mine...Now that they know I'm here, I'll be lucky if I survive the week"

"Shit"


	15. Highway to Hell

After their little heart to heart, Thea had rolled over and gone to sleep, her head resting pressed against Five's thigh, refusing to let go of the comfort she had. Diego had now gone to brood elsewhere, he couldn't even look at Five at the moment. Luthor turned to Five and demanded that he tell him what was going on. They could shelve the alien problems for now, they had bigger things to deal with.

"Former employer? What's this really about? And don't give me any of this '_it's none of your business' crap, all right?"_ Luthor ordered, towering over the duo on the bed.

"...Well, it's a long story" sighed Five, sparing a glance at Thea where she slept, before looking back down at his hands. Luthor merely sat down again, silently telling him to start his tale.

_**The elegantly dressed woman, tipped her hat towards the elderly Five as he stared down the barrel of the rifle at her. She appeared completely calm despite the situation. "Who the hell are you?!" demanded Five, still quite not believing that there was another real life person standing in front of him.**_

_**"I'm here to help" replied the woman as she made her way over towards him.**_

_**"Tell me why I shouldn't put a bullet through your head right now!"**_

_**"Because...if you did, you wouldn't hear about the offer about to make you" the woman, began to make herself comfortable on a piece of rubble that sat nearby,"Which you would be rather tragic given your...current circumstance"**_

_**She was close enough that she didn't have to shout, but still a comfortable distance away. Five was listening closely, the front of the rifle lowering slightly, as he let his guard down slightly.**_

_**"I work for an organisation called the Commission. We are tasked with the preservation of the time continuum, through manipulation and removals" she explained, glancing around at Five's current dwellings, her gaze settling on Delores a moment longer before returning to look Five dead in the eyes.**_

_**"I don't understand" mumbled Five.**_

_**"Sometimes people...make choices that alter time. Free will, don't get me started" she explained, pulling out her black pipe and taking a long drag before she continued, "When that happens, we dispatch one of our agents to...eliminate the threat"**_

_**Five immediately retrained the rifle on the woman in front of him, finger hovering over the trigger. "No, no, no" chuckled the woman, "You misunderstand me. You're not a target. You're a recruit. I've come to offer you a job, Number Five. We've had out eye on you for quite some time and we think you have a lot of potential. Your survival skills have made you quite a celebrity back at headquarters. That and your ability to jump through time"**_

_**"...You're saying that I...I could actually leave here?" Five hesitantly asked, the rifle now pointed down towards the ground, "Go...go back?"**_

_**"In return for five years of service. Once your contract is done, you can retire to the time and place of your choosing, with a pension plan to boot"**_

_**"If you can alter time, why not stop all this from ever happening?"**_

_**"That's quite impossible, I'm afraid. All of this, it was supposed to happen"**_

_**"That's insane. The end of everything?"**_

_**"Not everything. Just the end of ...something. So...do we have an agreement?"**_

_**Five scoffed, sparing a glance over his shoulder at Delores who sat on the rubble behind him. He shook the woman's hand**_

"They turned me into the perfect instrument for rehabilitation of the time continuum or 'corrections' as they called them. I wasn't the only one, there were others like me. Beings out of time, fractured, extracted from the lives they knew" Five heaved a sigh, shifting slightly on the bed as Thea stirred slightly, "I don't know how they got there. But I do know that none of them were as good as me"

_**A well-groomed elderly Five stood on a grassy knoll, hidden by the foliage that surrounded him. He started down the barrel of his rifle, eyes locked on his target. The small hand held radios next to his feet crackled as the announcers spoke, flicking between them as they reported the day's happenings.**_

_**"...Dallas Love Field, the Dallas-Fortworth area broadcasters bring you a special description of the arrival of President John F. Kennedy. And the crowd yells..."**_

_**"...and the president of the United States...to get another view of the president...as he and his First Lady depart Love Field..."**_

_**"The presidential car is moving out. The president and his First Lady head out for downtown Dallas. Where thousands should already be on the street right now..." Five put the rifle down as he pulled a familiar and well-worn book from his suit pocket. **_

"...They didn't know it, but I was biding my time, trying to figure out the right equation so I could back. If I could just get back, I knew I could stop the apocalypse. Save the world"

_**"...Dallas police out here in force today doing a beautiful job of handling the crowd..." Every single space had been filled with notes and scribbles and Five flicked through to the page he needed, "...along with a contingent of Texas Rangers..."**_

_**"...So I broke my contract"**_

_**"...All the way down Houston street and go past..." Five tried to time jump once more, pushing all of his effort and force into it. It felt different from when he had first time jumped. Older body and all that.**_

**_On the other side of the portal, the remaining modern-day Hargreeves siblings gathered with their housekeeper to watch the anomaly occurring before them. Klaus rushed forward and thrust a fire extinguisher into the portal where it landed next to Five on the grassy knoll._**

**_"...the remarkable security measures are in effect...checking the routes of travel of the people with the president...has been checked, rechecked and then checked again...without exhaustive security investigation..."_**

**_"The presidential suite has been examined, and...until the president's security and safety are confirmed..."_**

**_"Shots fired! Shots fired!"_**

**_Five pushed through the portal opening in front of him, his face scrunched up in pain as his body began to warp and change._**

**_"...The shots appear to have come from a grassy knoll..."_**

**_Five landed flat on his face, 28 years younger and surrounded by his family pre-apocalypse._**

* * *

"So you were...a hitman?" asked Luthor as he handed Five a glass of water.

"Yes" replied Five, as Thea stirred once more, before curling up closer to the warmth he provided.

"Uh...I mean you had a code, right? You didn't just kill anybody"

"No code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline"

"What about innocent people?"

"...It was the only way I could get back here"

"But that's murder!"

"Jesus! Luthor, grow up. We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys and bad guys. There's just people going about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family...Time changes everything"

* * *

There was a quick blue flash as Klaus reappeared on the bus clutching that blasted black briefcase he'd stolen. There was a big difference now. Gone were the skirts and overcoats, gone was the make-up and jewellery. Instead, he wore a bloody and torn army green vest, a tattoo decorated his shoulder and the only jewellery he wore was a pair of dog tags around his neck.

Blood was splattered across his broken form and mixed with his tears as they fell, blurring his vision. When he got off the bus, he stood there a moment, tears streaming down his face before he snapped.

Swinging downwards and striking the briefcase against the ground with as much force as he could, before curling up in a ball on the ground as everything came crashing down around him. He couldn't believe that he was back. Back home, but more broken than when he'd left.


	16. Carry on Wayward Son

Back at the academy, Klaus lay broken and bloodied in the bath tub. He had refused to remove the dog tags and instead had laid there despondently, staring at the ceiling as he felt his memories wash over him. Gunfire, blood and death flashed in front of his eyes, the blood rushed in his ears and his heart pounded out of his chest. He jerked upright, clutching his head as he was forcefully pulled from him memories, it was suffocating.

* * *

Thea walked slowly down the hallway, a laundry basket in her arms as she moved from room to room, to collect the dirty laundry. Luthor, Five and herself had come back to the academy earlier that day, and she had quickly got started on chores, if only to take her mind off what had happened in the past couple of days. She'd seen glimpses of Klaus here and there, so she knew he was at least breathing which lifted a weight off of her shoulders.

She was still a little stiff from her injuries, but she was healing nicely now that the loralite was out of her system. The healing stone from her Loric chest had helped more than she'd thought it would, not that she'd tell Five that. He seemed to be constantly hovering over her shoulder now, like she'd disappear if he didn't. Thea didn't know if she should be flattered that he was so concerned, or not.

Passing by the bathroom, Five followed the trail of blood and water to Klaus' bedroom where the door was cracked open and he was getting dressed. "Oh boy..." sighed Klaus as he stretched and began to pull on a grey t-shirt.

"...You okay?" Five cautiously asked, knocking once on the door, before standing in the doorway.

"Hm? Oh hey" sighed Klaus, seemingly disconnected from the situation at hand, "Yeah, I just...long night"

"More than one, from the looks of it" chuckled Five.

"Yeah"

"Don't remember the dog tags"

"Yeah, they uh belonged to a friend"

"How about the new tattoo?"

"Y'know I don't totally even remember getting it. Like I said, it was a long night"

"You did it, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Y'know I can recognise the symptoms, Klaus"

"Symptoms?" replied Klaus, as he flopped down on the edge of his bed and cradled his head in his hands.

"The jet lag. Full body itch. Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and into your brain" replied Five, coming further into the room, "You gonna tell me about it?"

"...Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you, they took me and Thea hostage instead" Klaus ran his hands down his face as he heaved a sigh.

"And in return, you stole their briefcase"

"Yeah, I thought there was money it, or I could pawn it, or you know, whatever...and then I opened it"

"And the next thing you were...where? Or should I say when?"

"What does it matter?"

"Wha-?! Okay how long were you gone?"

"Almost a year"

"A year? Do you know what this means"

"Yeah, I'm ten months older now"

"No, this isn't any kind of joke, Klaus. Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase. Where is it now?"

"Gone. I destroyed it. Poof"

"What the the hell were you thinking?!"

"What do you care?"

"What do I care? I needed it, you moron so I could get back. I could start over"

"Just-just..."

"Where are you going?"

"Interrogations over, just...leave" Five ignored Klaus' attempts to make him leave and instead rushed over to the desk, pulling out a notepad and pen as he scribbled down a ransom note for the briefcase.

Thea chose that moment to enter the room, arms full of laundry, with a knock on the door. "Hello? Klaus?" she asked quietly, venturing into the room and gathering the attention of the two males in the room, "You got any laundry?"

"...Thea?" rasped Klaus, looking pale and ashen face as if he'd had a nightmare.

"Yes?" she replied, shifting the weight in her arms so that it sat comfortably on her hip.

"Thea?" Klaus repeated stepping close and poking her shoulder, as if worried that he was seeing things. It was heartbreaking to watch. When his finger met flesh, he stared at it for a few seconds before quickly wrapped her in a tight hug, pulling her to his chest.

His white knuckle grip on her made her drop the laundry basket to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back, giving him the comfort he was so desperately searching for.

"...You were dead. I watched you die" Klaus rasped, completely ignoring Five who still stood in the corner of the room.

"I mean technically..." Thea mumbled into his chest, "My heart stopped for a few minutes, but I'm okay now"

"...What?" came Five's voice cracking slightly at the revelation as Thea reluctantly pulled away from the warm embrace and turned to face Five, "You didn't say anything about that"

"Yeah, well, I was a bit more preoccupied with the poisoning and my brother's death, so y'know" replied Thea almost nonchalant.

"What? Your brother's dead?" asked Klaus who was still standing behind her.

"...Yeah" sighed Thea, moving to pick up the basket of laundry but Klaus grabbed her by the shoulders holding her upright.

"What's going on?" he asked searching her face for any kind of clue.

"...It's been a rough couple of days"

* * *

A few hours later found Thea herself tucking the last of Five's laundry into his drawers. The boy in question was standing on his bed, scribbling mathematical equations all over the walls in what he had called a probability map. It still looked like Greek to her.

Just as she was shoving the drawer closed, Five leant back from his equations muttering to Delores as he did so. "Oh! Okay I think I've got something, Delores. It's tenuous, but promising" Just then Luthor appeared in the doorway, staring at the walls in complete confusion.

If Thea didn't understand any of this, there was no way Luthor would. She had nothing against the giant man, it was just a fact. He was big, beautiful and naiive.

"Who're you talking to?" Luthor asked stepping further into the room, sparing a glance at Thea before turning back to Five, "What's all this?"

"It's a probability map" replied Five, not bothering to turn around as he checked over his equations.

"Probability of what?"

"Of whose death could save the world. I've narrowed it down to four"

"Are you saying one of those four people causes the apocalypse?"

"No, I'm saying their death might prevent it"

"Oh…I'm not following" replied Luthor, Thea let a quiet snort from where she stood, the empty basket of laundry now sitting comfortably on her hip. She watched Five flitter around the room as she stood back and watched what was about to unfold between the two brothers, she too curious about what Five was trying to figure out.

"Time is fickle Luthor. The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. The butterfly effect. So all I have to is find the person with the greatest probability of the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them"

"Milton Greene?" asked Luthor coming around to look at the four names circled on the wall as Five scribbled down some notes in his already cramped book, "Whose he? Is he a terrorist or something?"

"…I believe he is a gardener"

"You can't be serious! Wait, this is madness, Five. You…Where'd you get that?!" demanded Luthor as Five pulled out a rifle from underneath his bed.

"In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros" Five replied as he lifted the firearm up and tested it for the feel of it, "It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable"

"But you can't…! This guy, Milton is just an innocent man!" protested Luthor, gesturing wildly to the names on the wall.

"It's basic math" Five reasoned coldly, "His death could potentially save billions of lives. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone"

"We don't do this kind of thing" reasoned Luthor.

"We aren't doing anything. I am" retorted Five.

"What if you're wrong?" asked Thea finally piping up from where she stood, staring at the equations littering the wall.

"What?" Five bluntly replied.

"Well, you said it yourself, there's only a one in four chance that you could be right about this Milton guy being the one to kill. What if you're wrong and it's one of the others? Or someone else entirely?"

"Besides, I can't let you go and kill innocent people" added Luthor before Five had a chance to reply, though the scowl said alot, "No matter how many lives it will save"

"Well, good luck stopping me" replied Five, as he went to leave the room, rifle in hand.

"You're not going anywhere!" stated Luthor as he picked up Delores by the her neck and hung her out the window. Five reacted quickly, the rifle trained on Luthor, his finger hovering over the trigger. Thea heaved a sigh as she moved back out of the way of the two, so that she was just lingering in the doorway.

"Put. Her. Down"

"Put the gun down. Your not killing anyone. I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this" Luthor pushed Delores further out the window until she was hanging over the fire escape. Five scoffed, he couldn't believe Luthor had the balls to do this. "It's either her or the gun. You decide"

Five lowered the rifle slowly, his confidence wavering as he tried to call Luthor's bluff. Suddenly, Luthor let go of Delores to fall out the window. Five disappeared in an instant, catching Delores before she hit the deck.

Five sat cradling Delores to his chest as Luthor now had the gun in his hands. "I know your still a good person, Five. Otherwise you wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you're not on your own anymore"

"…There is one way" muttered Five still clutching onto Delores, "But it's just about impossible"

"More impossible than what brought you back here?"


	17. Devil Went Down to Georgia

"...Singles instead of doubles. What's next, futons on the floor?" complained Hazel as he and Cha-Cha walked into the motel room.

"What difference does it make? We're only here another night" replied Cha-Cha as Hazel set the take-away food on one of the beds.

"Well, that's easy for you to say. I've been looking in every pawn shop all over town, looking for our briefcase. You've been relaxing in the library"

"Well, at least we know something on the family that can help" Cha-Cha raised the book in the air. It was Vanya's autobiography, "It's like a Hargreeves family handbook"

Outside, Diego knelt down and placed a tracker on the underside of the Hazel and Cha-Cha's car.

"Let me tell you they're a real freakin' mess. Number Five can time travel without a briefcase, but not that well. The big oaf lived on the moon for a few years. The junkie can conjure the dead, which explains how he knew about the dead Russian yesterday. And the idiot in the mask can curve anything he throws, usually knives" summarised Cha-Cha as Hazel peeked out between the curtains, looking down at the parking lot where a car door slammed.

"Anything in there about the girl? The housekeeper?" asked Hazel still watching out the window.

"Nothing. Like the addict said yesterday, she's just the housekeeper, not family. No mention of her anywhere in the book. Besides what does it matter? She's dead"

"Well, the knife idiot is the one we need to worry about now"

"Why?"

"Cause he's in the parking lot, hiding behind the ice cream truck" Cha-Cha got up and joined Hazel by the window. There behind the ice cream truck sat a banged up green car.

* * *

"Bingo" muttered Diego as he watched the curtains on the motel room swish shut.

"You do know that killing those people is not gonna make you feel any better" warned Klaus from the passenger's seat, chugging from the vodka bottle as Diego ready himself to go after the duo.

"Yeah, but when it's done...I'm gonna sleep like a baby"

"Sure you will"

* * *

The knock on the motel door caught the attention of the duo within, their heads snapping to lock on it as the sound echoed throughout the small room. Cha-Cha pulled her handgun from her waistband and Hazel stood, setting down the take-away food down, wiping his hands on his pants and retrieving his handgun as he did so.

Hazel cocked his gun out the window before lowering his gun, "Motel clerk" he stated to Cha-Cha who stood poised ready behind the door. Opening the door, Cha-Cha snatched the message from him before slamming the door in his face.

Unfurling the rolled paper, Cha-Cha scanned it quickly before glancing up at Hazel. "It's from Five"

"How'd he find us?" asked Hazel, exasperated.

"Well, he was us" reasoned Cha-Cha, "He knows all our protocols. He says he has the briefcase. Wants to set up a meeting...Come on, we're late already"

"What about our friends outside? Last thing we need is a tail" replied Hazel pulling on his suit jacket, "Manilla, 1902?"

"Let's just go with the ice bucket" replied Cha-Cha as Hazel retrieved said object from the dressing table, before walking outside with a sigh.

* * *

"Stay in the car" Diego ordered Klaus.

"What are you talkin' about? This guy tortured me!" protested Klaus.

"I have a plan" replied Diego, leaving Klaus to sulk in the car. He cautiously made his way up the stairs, keeping an eye out for anyone.

"So, what exactly is the plan here, big guy?" asked Klaus coming up behind Diego on quiet feet. Diego flinched at the sudden appearance of his brother.

"I told you to wait in the car" scolded Diego.

"Yeah, but you also told me that licking a nine-volt battery would give me pubes" sighed Klaus as he drank from the vodka bottle he'd brought with him; making his way towards the room.

"…We were eight" reminded Diego as he pulled his brother away from the room and back down the stairs.

"What? Come on!" protested Klaus.

"For once, I need you to listen to me. Now go back to the car. If I don't come out in two minutes, that means I'm probably dead"

"So?"

"If that happens, go get help" replied Diego, placing his hands on his brother's shoulders, talking to him as if he were a child, "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay"

Walking back up to the motel door, Diego paused hearing the sounds of gunfire and shouting. Kicking the door in, he found not a fighting couple, but an empty untouched motel room with the TV volume turned up to the max.

The sound of an engine revving and tires squealing down in the parking lot caught his attention and he made his way over to the balcony to see what was going on. He received a rain of bullets for his efforts from the masked assassins who sped off out of the parking lot.

Just then he felt hands pull him back behind the divider that covered the stairwell; as they waited for the rain of bullets to end. "Oh man! See? You used to think I was an idiot" teased Klaus, as he and his brother tried to clam their wildly beating hearts.

"I still think you're an idiot" rasped Diego, leaning against the top of the railing, "Come on, they're getting away" he called as the two ran down the stairs and out into the parking lot.

"Shit" cursed Klaus, kicking one of the car's tires as both he Diego discovered that all four of the car's tires are flat. No doubt Hazel & Cha-Cha's fault.

"Was this all part of your master plan?" Klaus goaded as he leant against the back door of the ice cream truck.

* * *

The antique car drove down the desolate road as the occupants made their way to the meeting place. Thea wasn't quite sure how she had been roped into yet another one of Five's schemes, but yet here she was; sitting in the backseat of the car with Luthor and Five at the helm, the fake briefcase sitting between the two.

Pulling to a stop on the side of the road, the trio waited in somewhat comfortable silence to see if their message had been received and believed. "…Y'know I never it enjoyed it" sighed Five out of the blue; as he looked out the window, trying not to look at the other occupants in the car.

"What?" muttered Luthor

"The killing. I mean, I was…I was good at my work, and I…I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure. I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind"

"Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time. I only spent four years on the moon, but that was more then enough. It's the being alone that breaks you" mumbled Luthor.

"Do you think they'll buy it?" asked Thea, staring at the briefcase that sat tucked under Luthor's arm.

"Well, what I do know is that they're desperate. It's like a cop losing his gun. If the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit. Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it back" explained Five.

"Well, I should hold on to it" stated Luthor, trying in vain to be in charge of a situation he seemed to be floundering in.

"Hm?"

"In case they make a move on you"

"Okay Luthor, but be careful. I mean, I've…I've live a long life, but…you're still a young man. You got your whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it" Thea couldn't help the smile that stretched over her face despite the situation. It was kinda funny to see a 13 year old tell a 30 year not to waste his life. "You too, Thea" he added glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

"Here we go" muttered Five as the trio emerged from the car and watched as the second car came to a slow stop a little way further up the road. They must've made such an odd sight. Two masked assassins in children's masks, Luthor's bulking form clutching to a small black briefcase, Thea's tense form leaning against the driver's side door and the relaxed form of Five with his hands in his pockets.

"…If this all goes sideways, do me a favour and tell Delores I'm sorry" said Five quietly, looking over at the two behind him.

"Sure" replied Thea.

Five gave a small smile to the duo before him, before making his way over to the No-Man's-Land created by the two cars. The masked duo soon joined him. "The masks really necessary?" Five asked exasperated.

"So where is it, kid?" demanded Cha-Cha as she and Hazel tossed their worn masks aside.

"Wow, that's how you're gonna start. Y'know, we can get right back in our car and call it a day" replied Five tartly.

"You won't even make it halfway there" retorted Cha-Cha swiftly pulling a pistol from her waistband and training it on Five.

"Maybe. But as I'm sure you found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant"

"He's right" interjected Hazel, "You dropped a chandelier on him, got right back up"

"By the time you took him out, he'd smash your precious briefcase to a pulp"

"Probably us too, right? So, how do we help each other?"

"I need you to get in contact with your superior so I can have a chat with her. Face-to-face"

"About what?" Cha-Cha asked bluntly, pistol still pointed at Five's relaxed form.

"Well, I don't believe that's any of your concern…otherwise I'm sure Thea would love to have a word with you"

"What the fuck?!" cursed Hazel as the two glanced over to where Thea could be seen next to the other car, "But she's dead!" Five merely smirked in response.

"Just don't tell her about the briefcase" pleaded Cha-Cha, bringing the attention to the situation at hand.

"Fair enough" conceded Five as the two split apart and made their way back to their respective cars; eyes never leaving the other.

"Now what?" asked Thea as Five came to lean against the hood of the car.

"Now we wait"


	18. Come Little Children

A few moments later, the two parties present turned confused at the sound of an ice cream truck pulling up the barren road, song chiming from the speakers. "...Is that her?" asked Luthor as the ice cream truck came into view.

The next few minutes seemed to pass in a mixture of slow motion and a blur as the ice cream truck flew past, revealing a cheerful Klaus at the helm. The very same Klaus who had never driven a vehicle before, the fear very clear in Diego's eyes as he clutched onto anything around him.

"...What the hell are they doing here?" muttered Five as the trio watched the ice cream truck barrel towards the dup standing in the middle of the road.

"Go faster!" shouted Diego as Klaus slammed on the accelerator, pushing the small truck to its limits, watching with a grin as Ben seemed to be having the time of his life. Or death.

"It's a setup!" cried Cha-Cha as she and Hazel began to shoot at the targets before them. Reacting quickly, Luthor pushed the smaller two behind him, using his giant form as a shield whilst Thea had placed herself in front of Five.

One hand clamped around his wrist, the other splayed against the car next to her, absorbing the metal that it was made of. It wasn't the best armour, but she couldn't risk using the loralite again so soon. Earthen materials were much to manipulate, she just wished she didn't look like a walking tin can.

* * *

Suddenly, everything and everyone seemed to freeze. Freeing his wrist from Thea's death grip, he made his way out in front of the two who'd shielded him without a moment's hesitation. "Neat trick, isn't it?" commented the Handler, who watched as Five inspected the frozen people around him, before coming to stand before her, hands in his pockets.

"Hello, Five" she greeted pulling her sunglasses off, "You look good, all things considered"

"It's good to see you again" replied Five pleasantly as if he were talking to a friend and not this snake of a woman.

"Feels like we met just yesterday. Course you were a bit older then...Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us off the scent"

"Ah, well, I wish I could take the credit" replied Five a little humbly, "I just miscalculated the time dilation projections and...Well, y'know. Here I am"

"You realise your efforts are futile. So why don't tell me what you really want?" asked the Handler, hiding the briefcase behind her in a poor attempt at an innocent stance.

"I want you to put a stop to it" Five copied her stance.

"You realise what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be, will be. That's out raison d'être"

"Yeah, how about survival as a raison?" replied Five as he pulled a pistol from his waistband and casually trained it on the Handler. Who barely even blinked an eye at the action, almost as if she was expecting it.

"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a...small cog in a machine" she sang, walking closer to the pistol, hands still behind her back, "This fantasy you've been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse is just that. A fantasy. I must say though we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your...stick-to-itiveness, really quite...quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission, in management"

"Sorry what's that now?" chuckled Five, waving the pistol slightly as he gestured with it.

"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong" the Handler said, going in for the kill.

"Well, it didn't work out too well the last time"

"But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about...the home office. You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel. You're a distinguished professional in...schoolboy shorts"

The Handler seemed to let Five stew in his own thoughts as she glanced around at the frozen people around her. "Ah, there she is" she muttered, Five's eyes locked on the Handler as she snapped her fingers and Thea came unfrozen with a wheezing breath.

The metal she had absorbed earlier, melted from her skin as she leant over with her hands on her knees, swallowing large gulps of air. She had felt like something had been trying to wiggle its way down her throat.

The sound of a throat being cleared caught her attention, making her straighten up and lock her eyes on the odd duo before her. Five stood almost shoulder to shoulder with a blonde haired woman, who appeared to have stepped straight out of the 50s. She seemed somewhat familiar, not the woman herself, but the way she held herself.

"Well? Come on" called the woman as Thea cautiously made her way forward, stopping only a small distance away from the duo, her eyes never leaving the woman.

"What are you doing?" bit out Five towards the Handler, "She's got nothing to do with this"

"Oh, did you really think I came here just for you, Five? I'm here to take this breacher home" replied the Handler, directing the latter of the sentence towards Thea who stood tense at the insinuation.

"...Are you saying you know how to take me back? To get me home?" asked Thea, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"But of course!" chirped the woman,"We have the technology to reverse it. For the both of you. I mean you...you can't be happy like this" Thea didn't reply, instead opting to rove her eyes over the woman in front of her, looking for some kind of kink in the perverbial armour.

"I'm not looking for happy" Five replied quietly, eyes still glancing over to Thea now and then.

"We're all looking for happy" amended the Handler as she stroked the side of his face, "We can make that happen. We can make you...happy again"

"And what about my family?" continued Five, gesturing to his brothers off to the side.

"What about them?"

"I want them to survive" The Handler just chuckled.

"All of them?" she sighed.

"Yes, all of them"

"...Well, I'll see what I can do" Sighed the Handler as Five went to adjust the situation around him. Sheathing the pistol, he walked over to Cha-Cha and Hazel, disarming the weapons they had lost, tossing them aside before moving back over to Luthor and nudging the bullets aside so that they wouldn't hit Luthor when time resumed.

* * *

"Prove it" stated Thea, finally spoke up as she and the Handler watched Five alter the situation.

"Pardon?"

"You say you have the technology to reverse...the effects. But I've run the calculations, I've tried everything. There's no way to do it successfully. Not without tearing yourself apart"

"Ah, you see Ten" whispered the Handler as she came to stand in front of the tense Thea. How did she know her Loric name? "We have many resources, resources from far beyond your time...and place. They could all be yours, if only you came with me...with us to the Commission"

"And?"

"Ah, Roselyn was right. You are rather blunt" the Handler chuckled, leaning back on her haunches. Thea felt as if her body was like a tightly wound spring, ready to recoil at any moment.

"...And how do you know my social worker?"

"Hm? Oh she's one of our case workers. Handles all things multiverse" Thea almost felt rather than saw Five's head snap in her direction, "Lovely woman. We had her sent to find you, when you came through all those years ago. Thought you'd be a lovely addition to the team, but alas, you slipped right through our fingers...So, what do you say? Ready to go home?"

"No"

"No?"

"I'm not signing on the dotted line until I've read through everything"

"Smart girl...So, do we have deal?" Placing the briefcase between her feet, the Handler held out both her hands to the odd duo before her. The stone-faced alien and the scowling assassin. They shook her hand, disappearing with a flash of blue.

* * *

Time resumed as soon as the trio left, only slightly different. The bullets went wide, the ice cream truck rammed into the back of Hazel and Cha-Cha's car and the assassins in question were shoved to the side of the rode along with various chilled delights.

"Five? Five! Thea!" called Luthor, turning in a circle as he realised the two had disappeared. When his gaze landed on the assassins in front of him, he raised the briefcase in the air like one would a ball for a dog, calling "Come and get it!" before hurling it far across the field next to him

Luthor ran forward, helping Klaus carry Diego back to the car, once they fell from the broken ice cream truck. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" asked Luthor as they shoved each other into the car and Hazel and Cha-Cha split up, diving for the fallen gun and briefcase.

Upon realising that the gun was empty and the briefcase was fake, Hazel turned to see the car race down the road, Klaus flipping the finger at them as they left.

"Shit!"

* * *

In a small alcove by a wall of paintings, Pogo sat and Grace. They were the only two in the house. "How are you feeling?" Pogo asked Grace as she became fully functional and back online.

"Fine" she replied.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I do"

"And do you understand that the children can never know"

"I understand"

"Good"

Grace broke just a little.


	19. The Day that Wasn't

_**Weekend Party, Williamson Household, 2015**_

_**Thea didn't want to be here. She had been dragged along to yet another party by one of her 'friends'. She was hesitant to call them friends, they were more like acquaintances, it's not like she had ever stayed in one place for long to make any real friends. This was the longest she'd ever stayed in one place before.**_

_**The foster family she was currently with, seemed to be on the verge of kicking her out, though. Not that they said anything, it was just in the way they acted-almost as if they were walking on egg shells around her.**_

_**So here she was, pressed against the kitchen counter with some drunk human sucking on her neck. Her eyes, rolled back until the were staring at the ceiling, at the kitchen lights that were flickering furiously, her arms hanging limply by her side.**_

_**The red solo cup she had been holding, was now clutched desperately in her hand, the majority of the sickly sweet liquid, now dripping onto the tiled floor. Whatever he had put her in drink seemed to be working, there was no way she could remove the guy, he was easily twice her size and he was currently fiddling with her fly.**_

_**Her eyes closed as she waited for the inevitable, tears rushing down her face as he took what he wanted. The lights continued to flicker, her body felt like it was glitching like a buffering screen. The fear and shame overwhelmed her.**_

_**And then it stopped. No more unwanted hands roaming he shaking body, no more rough lips sucking on her neck. One moment she was in the messy kitchen, the next she had appeared curled up on the floor in the public library. And there she laid, huddled away and feeling safe amongst the fantasy and sci-fi sections.**_

* * *

_**Wednesday 8.15am **_

The remaining Hargreeves siblings (sans Vanya) sat by the bar in the living room, going over what was happening. "Three days?" repeated Alison handing everyone a cup of coffee.

"That's what Five said" replied Luthor taking a sip from his.

"The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it" muttered Klaus sitting cross-legged on the floor in between Luthor and Diego.

"But can we trust him?" asked Alison still skeptical, "I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little..." she ended with a whistle, twirling her finger next to her forehead.

"Our little psycho" chuckled Klaus affectionately.

"He was pretty convincing" defended Luthor, "If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him"

_"That's_ why they were after him?" asked Diego, his left arm now in a sling.

"Yeah"

"What did Five even see?" Alison asked.

"Uh...apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible...Okay, so here's the plan. Uh, we go through Dad's research-"

"Wait , what?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on" Diego said.

"Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick. What actually happened the first time around?" asked Klaus, asking the question they were all thinking.

"Yeah. What are you not telling us?" added Diego, "Come on, big boy, spit it out"

"...We died" whispered Luthor, rushing out the words before taking a large gulp of his coffee and burning his tongue as he did so.

"What was that?" Alison piped up.

"I said, uh, we died" coughed Luthor, speaking louder.

* * *

"I must admit, in all the time I've been here, I've never met anyone quite like you" commented the Handler as the trio made their way up the path to the Commission HQ, here in 1955, "Hazel and Cha-Cha, for example, are talented, certainly, but...they can't see the big picture"

Thea certainly felt like a third wheel, even walking down this small path behind the two. Quietly listening to the Handler, it almost sounded like she was still trying to sell Five on the idea that being back at the Commission was a great idea.

She definitely wished she had a better control on her teleporting legacy, she could pop right out of here and they'd be none the wiser. Maybe a little pissed. But she didn't and so here she was trailing the two.

"Your spunk, your enterprising spirit...Well, it reminds me a great deal of myself, if...I may be so vainglorious. If things work out for you here, you could potentially make a fine successor, Five"

"I'd like to discuss the logistics of my family's safety at your earliest convenience" replied Five, ever calm on the outside as the smaller two followed the Handler inside, "As well as this body replacement"

"Such chutzpah! It's refreshing, I'll admit. Slow down, Five. All in good time. In fact, now that you've finally agreed to work with us, we've got all the time in the world" replied the Handler as the trio walked up the stairs and down the hallway.

"The Commission works in support of a delicate balance between the timeline of events and mankind's free will" They walked passed a small secure room where shelves of briefcases lined the wall. The Handler noticed their stares, but seemed to ignore Thea in favour of Five. Not that Thea minded, of course. "The briefcase is no longer part of you kit, Five. Free your mind. You're management now. One of us"

"All the people on this floor are case managers, each one responsible for one major event at a time" explained the Handler as they came to a stop, peering through a doorway where rows upon rows of people at small desks worked, typing away.

"So many of them" commented Five.

"Impressive, isn't it?" gloated the Handler, "Being part of something...so grand...Come along" Five and Thea rushed to follow after the Handler as she continued on down the hallway, explaining the workings of the Commission.

"Whenever someone chooses the wrong path and the timeline is changed, the Commission gets a report from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager. They determine if anyone needs to be...removed from the equation to assure that their event happens as it should"

Through the winding hallways, they came to a stop next to a room filled with metal chutes. A middle-aged woman in a grey pant suit and glasses was placing tubes in the chutes, sending them off to their different agents.

"Based on that determination, the case manager sends instructions via pneumatic tube to...temporal assassins like you formerly were, Number Five...Any queries so far?"

"Yeah. Who was the case manager handling me?" Five asked.

"Ah. You mean the apocalypse" replied the Handler, stroking the sides of Five's face. She seemed to enjoy doing that. Maybe she was trying to memorise the younger version of him, before he did a body swap?

* * *

"Five, meet Dot" introduced the Handler as the two stood by the desk of a young woman dressed smartly in a blue dress. Thea remained standing by the door, refusing to go any further into the small room. It wasn't cramped in anyway, of course, but with so many people in the one room it sure felt like it.

"Oh! Hi!" waved Dot cheerily.

"Dot is responsible for all apocalypse matters. In fact, it was Dot here who first flagged your appearance in 2019" explained the Handler.

"No hard feelings" excused Dot.

"Well, you certainly put us through the ringer. Outsmarting two of our so-called best temporal assassins" continued the Handler. Thea could see that Five looked very uncomfortable, not used to all the compliments. She couldn't really blame him, it did seem a little over the top.

"If that doesn't spell **leadership material**...I just don't know" chuckled the Handler as the rest of the room's occupants paused in their typing at the outburst, "I suspect...you like a challenge, Five. Which is why I've given you a particularly complex first case"

Five took the red manilla folder handed to him as he opened it, flicking through the pages as he did so. "It's too bad Joseph Späh decided against sabotaging the fuel tank. It would have been so much easier" she chuckled as Five slowly sat down in the chair she had pulled out for him.

"Anyhoo...If you have any questions...I'll be right behind you" the Handler pointed over her shoulder before she made her way back out the door, all prim and proper as if the topic at hand hadn't been someone's life, "Come along, Ten. We're just down the corridor"

* * *

A few minutes later, Thea found herself and the Handler standing outside a locked door. Thea watched as the Handler pulled out a key card and slid it into the door, which opened with a click and a beep.

The room inside was odd, at first glance it appeared to look like a public library, musty old books and flickering lights included. With the tall shelves running down the centre of the room and the long tables that sat in intervals between them. However, upon closer inspection the sections were locked off much like the front door had been.

"You'll need this" said the Handler as she came up beside Thea, handing her a crisp white key card, "The section you want is down the left side, take a right and and two shelves over" she instructed.

"Why are you helping me?" asked Thea still suspicious of the woman's motives.

"Well, if this works, you'll go down in history. Become a legend...And the Commission sure does love having a finger in every pie" she replied with a chuckle. She turned to make her way out the door once more, "Roselyn will be by later, to check on your progress"

The door then closed with a click and a beep, locking her in. Thea stared at the dark shelves before her and heaved a sigh. "Well, let's get to work"


	20. Thanks for the Memories

"Why am I doing this?" whined Vanya, scuffing her feet against the tiled floor of the rec room as she and Leonard came in the side door to the Hargreeves home.

"Because it's important" replied Leonard shutting the door behind him.

"I just feel like every time I see them, I come away feeling like there's less of me"

"Things are different now. You've got me. The Sonny to you Cher, the um, peanut butter your jelly...Vanya you getting first chair is a huge accomplishment. You did it all by yourself. So it's the right time time to invite them to the concert. They need to see how talented you are, okay?"

"...Okay, Sonny. Let's do this"

* * *

"Maid's day off?" remarked Leonard with a chuckle as he and Vanya walked the painting-lined hallways of her childhood home.

"Growing up, we called her 'Mom'. Though I suppose she's got help nowadays" replied Vanya with a smile, "Where is everybody?"

"How come you not in any of these?" He asked in reference to the Umbrella Academy paintings that ran the length of the wall they were walking beside.

"It's always about the Umbrella Academy" replied Vanya, turning to look at Leonard and the familiar paintings as she did so, "I just didn't make the cut, so..."

"Wow"

Vanya led the two towards the indistinct sound of chatter coming from her siblings down in the living room. "Leonard. Hey, Leonard, come on" she called as Leonard paused to look in a glass case of Umbrella Academy memorabilia.

* * *

As Vanya and Leonard entered the living room, they were able to catch the tail-end of Diego's sentence. "Just now, you're telling...No, we need to figure this out. Is it just us in the house?"

"No, outside the house. Everyone died"

"Like the whole planet?" asked Alison.

"Hey" called Vanya as she and Leonard entered the room to find the four of them crowded around the bar. They turned as one, all looking like they had just been caught doing something they shouldn't be, "What's going on?"

"...It's a family matter" replied Alison sharing a quick glance with Luthor as she did so.

"Family matter?" Vanya repeated, "So **of course**, you couldn't bother to include me"

"No, it's not like that. We were-" Luthor protested.

"Don't let me interrupt" cut off Vanya, walking out.

"Vanya-! Wait! I'll fill you in later, when we're alone" Alison tried coming towards the pair.

"Please, please don't bother. And I won't either"

"Vanya, that's not fair"

"Fair? There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of **everything** for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was Dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes"

"Ouch" muttered Klaus as Vanya and Leonard stormed out of the room.

* * *

Five sat at his newly appointed desk, finishing the last of his report. Despite the Handler's insistence that this task was more of a challenge than others, he was able to complete it relatively easily. For which he was thankful for, as the multiple questions whirling around in his head seemed to take over the majority of his focus.

Why had the Handler sought out Thea? What was with this whole 'multiverse' thing? It was just a theory, wasn't it? Why had she offered him a job in management? Maybe to keep an eye on him? How the hell was he going to fix all this?

The constant tapping of the typewriters around him and thoughts in his mind created a symphony of sound that petered out as Dot (who sat behind him) tried to strike up a conversation. "Hi-ya, Five. How's it going?"

"I must have utter silence in order to complete this task" Five dryly replied, trying to make the woman leave him alone.

"Oh-oh, okay" she stammered not all phased by his buffer,"...Hey, a few of us are having lunch, and I was wondering if you..." Five cleared his throat loudly as he aggressively pulled open the drawer by his feet to retrieve a pod. "...you're doing something"

Stuffing the finished message into the pneumatic pod, Five stood from his desk and made his way to the hall of pneumatic tubes, eager to get away from the uncomfortableness that cloaked the small room.

* * *

Inside the hall of pneumatic tubes, Five found the tube that he had been looking for and was just about to send the pod off when the sound of heels echoed down the hall and was accompanied by a familiar voice.

"I'm afraid that's not procedure" scolded the Handler, leaning over his shoulder as she took the pod from his hands, "Five, meet Gloria" she introduced the elderly woman in the pant-suit that he had seen earlier, "Gloria is perhaps the single most important cog in our machine"

"Oh!" dismissed Gloria, waving her hand as she blushed at the rare compliment, having joined the two as she heard her name.

"Gloria, this is Number Five" introduced the Handler as she took out the message from within the pod.

"Look at you! Deadly little thing. So happy we decided to close the contract on your life" chuckled Gloria as she took the pod from the Handler.

"I'm afraid your reputation precedes you" commented the Handler with a smile, "And it looks like you're building on it here" She unfurled the message in her hands and read over the inscription "Oh, Karl Weber. Now tell me, why unfortunate Karl?"

Five couldn't help but let the ever familiar grin spread across his face as he replied, "Karl Weber is the butcher at the shop where Captain Ernst A. Lehmann acquires his weekly roast. So, if the Karl dies, his butcher shop is passed onto his son Otto, who...never washes his hands. Which is disgusting..."

"So he's the one who give the captain his roast..."

"And that gives him food poisoning"

"Which makes him late for work, which delays the take-off"

"And to make up for lost time, the _Hindenburg_ flies through a weather front of high electrical charge and humidity"

"And the static electricity inside the aircraft makes it a virtual tinderbox. Tiny engine sparks..."

"And just like that, we have..._boom!"_ No matter how much Five hated working for the Commission before, he couldn't lie, he did enjoy these volleys of intellect between himself and the Handler.

* * *

Five stayed at his desk even as the lunch bell rang and everyone else sprang from theirs; waiting until the Handler had the left the room before he made his move. Swinging around to Dot's desk, he grabbed the red manilla folder that sat atop the others and slid the file under his sweater vest, tucking the bottom into the top of his shorts, before making his way to the bathroom.

Once locked inside a toilet stall, Five removed the file from where he had hidden it and opened it, cursing when he found a largely printed smiley face instead of the apocalyptic work he was looking for.

"Shit" he quietly cursed as he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Glancing up, he saw familiar red heels walk towards the stall next to him as the person began to talk to him.

"So, how's your first day going?" asked the Handler.

"...Couldn't be better" Five replied a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he slowly closed the folder and tried to quietly shove the folder back under his clothes. He just couldn't get rid of this woman! Now everyone else would think he couldn't even go to the bathroom without having his hand held. Not that he cared what anyone else thought. No way.

"Glad to hear it" she replied as her skirt hit the floor and she began to pee, a loud hacking couch echoing throughout the bathroom as she did so. Five looked at the wall dividing the two with a mix of disgust and concern, it sounded like a cat was trying to cough up a fur ball.

"I burnt my rugae" stated the Handler as she continued to pee, "Ever burned your rugae? Ru-gae. The ridges on the hard palate that help pass food to the esophagus...Anyway, I'm on a liquid diet for two days, hence the marathon of urination" she explained.

Five could not believe what he was hearing. Having finally shoved the folder back under his clothes, he crossed his arms and waited for this ordeal to be over. "One faulty cog, and nothing works as it should. You know, we value integrity at the office above all else" called the Handler as she began to finally finish her business. Five felt a flash of relief wash over him. Get out already, woman!

"...Trust is essential, and that trust is...built over time. But in the event of a breach, the Commission will act swiftly and without mercy. An efficiency I'm sure you above all people can appreciate, Number Five...I'm feeling peckish, have you had your lunch?"

"...Not yet" he replied rolling his eyes as he listened to her wash and dry her hands.

"Great! How would you like to lunch with me in my office? You can eat solid foods and I can live vicariously...through you" she walked back over to his stall and grabbed onto the top of the door, peering down at him.

"Sounds great" he grit out, his hands clenching the material of his blazer in frustration.

* * *

This had to be one of the weirdest meals he had ever had. And he had eaten roaches before! Here he sat across from the Handler, who was staring at him over her cup of something with an almost like a predator glare as he ate his lunch. It was kind of unnerving.

"...And that's how Phil determined the archduke just had to go" chatted the Handler as she slurped on the last of her lunch, "Care for dessert?"

"Ah no, I had a bad Twinkie in the apocalypse once. It kinda put me off desserts" replied Five as he set his glass of water on the desk in front of him.

"Please! Indulge me" she nudged the bowl of sweets closer to Five in response, who in turn took a small sweet from the glass bowl with a sigh, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. "What's that taste like to you?" she asked leaning back in her chair and taking a large inhale of her pipe.

"...The 1950s?" replied Five as he shifted the sweet around on his tongue, perplexed by the question.

"Precisely right. Our clever metaphysics division concocted a way to perfectly distill an entire decade into a single sweet. This one's modelled after the _Fudge Mutt_, America's favourite in 1955" bragged the Handler, lifting said sweet in the air.

"Remarkable"

"You'll be happy to know, it's the very division that's building your new body. Oh! That reminds me. I have something for you" she chatted as she pressed the button on the intercom sitting on her desk and glanced up at Five (who was still chewing away at the sweet) to see if he was impressed.

"Carla?"

_"Yes?"_

"Would you bring the box in, please?"

_"Certainly"_

Clicking off the intercom, the Handler stood up just as Carla laid a rather large shoe box on the desk in front of Five. "Go ahead. Open it" the Handler encouraged as Five stared at the box in front of him.

Lifting the lid, he found a pair of new, larger clothes inside. "Clothes make the man, Five" explained the Handler, who leant on the desk rather close to him, "Won't it be nice when you can actually wear it? Very soon, I assure you. They're perfecting your body as we speak"

"Thank you...It's very kind gift" he replied shutting the lid on the box of clothes, "...Is that a Chinese flamethrower?" he asked as he turned and pointed to the object in question, finally letting out the question that had been burning his tongue.

"Good eye...War. Such a fascinating concept" she commented as Five crept closer to have a look at her souvenirs; "...A temporary salve for a permanent human flaw. Course, it's a bit easier to see from 30,000 feet" she chuckled coming to stand next to Five.

"These are just some of the things I've collected in my travels. M26 grenade from the Vietnam War. And this, the most noteworthy perhaps...My Walther pistol. The very one Hitler used to kill himself. We're not supposed to take these kind of things, but...he wasn't gonna use it anymore. Feel...how perfectly balanced that is. Hm."

She handed Five the pistol, watching on as he tested out the small historic pistol and ran it over in his hands. It was her most prized possession after all. "I had some thoughts I wanted to run by you. Some suggestions to improve Commission protocol"

"Mm! Shaking things up already. I admire that" Again with the stroking of his face! "Go on. Do tell!" she sang walking back over to her desk.

"Gloria, the tube operator"

"Hm?"

"Wouldn't it be simpler if case managers sent their own messages?"

"I appreciate the thought. I really do. But everyone loves Gloria. I-I would never hear the end of it. She's been with the Commission family for years, and she's this close to making pension" Five was about to ask more, when Dot nervously entered the room asking for a moment alone with the Handler.

Five took a handful of the 1950s sweets and was out the door without delay. It had been an eventful lunch, but now he needed to have a talk with Thea. Now where would she be?


	21. A Hard Day's Night

This had to be the third hallway that Five had checked, he was running out of time before he had to be back at his desk. There was only so many minutes of lunch left and there was still a couple of things he needed to do.

It seemed to be by a stroke of luck that he came across a locked door that read Library on the door. Forgoing the door completely, Five jumped inside the room, where he found dark towering shelves of books that ran the length of the room. Upon closer inspection, he realised that the sections had been closed off into different genres.

Skirting the portly woman who bustled between the first two rows of the humanities section, he made his way to the back of the room where a solitary lamp had been turned on. Flitting his way between the sections, he finally made it to the section where the light had been shining.

* * *

What he found was not what he was expecting, the long table in front of him was blanketed in the strange runes he had seen Thea using- some of them appeared to be equations but he couldn't be sure. And the girl in question was slumbering away, slumped over the table with her head in her arms.

Walking around the tangle of chairs, Five made his way over to Thea going to shake her awake so he could ask her a few things. His face scrunched up in disgust at the small pool of drool that had formed on the table while the girl slept. He only got so far as placing his hand on the girl's shoulder before her blue eyes had snapped open and he was pinned to the floor, caught completely off guard by the sudden action.

His breath was coming out in short gasps as Thea (who appeared to still be asleep, if the trance-like look in her eyes was anything to go by) had her hands wrapped tightly around his throat. He could feel his Adam's apple brush against her fingers each time he tried to take a breath.

With spots dancing at the edges of his vision, he grabbed one of the pencils that had hit the floor at the same time he had, and stabbed it with as much force as he could into her shoulder. The sudden spurt of pain seemed to awaken her from whatever had taken ahold of her as she released her tight grip on his throat and sat back on his legs, looking a little lost.

Thea looked down at her bloody hands confused, before following the small trail of blood from her hands up to her right shoulder where the HB pencil Five had used, was sticking out. Glancing down, she seemed to just notice that Five was there beneath her, wheezing for breath.

"Five? Wha...?" she yawned.

"...Get...off" rasped Five once he got his breath back, her hands prints slowly beginning to form around his neck.

"Hm? Oh yeah" replied Thea as she pulled herself up and then moved to pull him up as well. He just looked at the hand offered to him before using the chair beside him, to pull himself up. Thea let her hand fall back to her side.

Almost absentmindedly, Thea snapped off the end of the pencil before shoving her fingers into the wound (ignoring Five's noise of disgust) and pulling out the head of the pencil, dropping it into the empty styrofoam cup on the table. She made her way back to the table to go over her notes, to see if she had missed something. Anything. Anything at all.

There was a long stretch of silence as neither talked, however Thea could feel Five's eyes on her. "Did you want something, Five?" she yawned, scratching her cheek as she tried to wake up. There were many things he wanted to ask, but if the wake up call was any indication he had to tread lightly. He rubbed his sore throat at the thought.

"...When was the last time you slept?" he asked slightly concerned, as he finally settled on a relatively safe question.

"Hm? What day is it today?...Wednesday?" she sighed, talking to herself, "A couple of days? I dunno...it's been pretty hectic" She didn't turn around, instead continuing to shift through her notes looking for what, he didn't know.

There was more silence before he spoke again, "...What did the Handler mean when she called you a breacher? And the whole multiverse thing?" Thea didn't answer right away and when she did, he wasn't so sure he should of asked in the first place.

"It's exactly what it sounds like" Thea sighed, running a hand through her hair as she talked,"I...breached this multiverse when I was younger and I've been trying to get back ever since"

"That still doesn't explain anything"

"...Saw someone do this once" Thea muttered with a sigh before turning around to face Five, her pointer finger igniting with the Lumen as she used the light to draw in the air between the two. "Say there are four different Earths. One where the Nazis won the war, one where we're all evil, one where aliens exist and one where J.F.K. was never assassinated" she stated drawing four large circles in the air, using her finger like a sparkler. "Each of these Earths exist in the same space, parallel to one another, but they vibrate at a different frequency to each other, so that they can't be seen"

"So...you're saying if you can find the right frequency, you can what? Go back home?"

"That's the idea" Thea sighed turning back to her notes, fingers clenching over the back of the chair, her shoulders tense in frustration "Not so easy in practice, though"

"Surely, the library has something that can help?" asked Five, deciding that it might be best to stay where he was.

"No, it's all absolute **bullshit!"** suddenly cried Thea as she swept a pile of books and notes to the floor in a fit of anger, "It's barely even research! It's completely useless! I already know this shit! I don't need to know about this crap! What I **need** is an equation to figure out what the right fucking frequency is! Not some bullshit about space and time!" she ranted, as tears of frustration began to form in her eyes.

"Well...why don't you just do the reverse of what you did to come here?" Five tried to tread carefully; she seemed to have reached breaking point and he wasn't equipped to deal with crying women. That's what Delores was for.

"What a _genius_ idea! I wonder why I didn't think of that before!" she cried her voice heavy with sarcasm as she spun around to face Five, not caring how she looked in this moment "Don't you think I've tried?! I can do small hops just fine mind you...but the ones I need are just too...argh! I've tried everything! Hell! I even tried to kill myself!"

Five tensed up at the revelation. She'd killed herself? Or at least tried to? It seemed to throw a new light over her. Thea ignored his reaction as she continued to rant, her voice thick with emotion, "Gotta recreate the environment y'know! But it never **fucking** works! Pill popping, throat slashing, bullet to the brain...Hell! I even tried to drown myself! Nothing ever works!"

When Thea came finally came to an end, chest heaving and tears streaming down her face, Five didn't know what to say. Or do for that matter, like he'd said before, Delores was more equipped to handle these kinds of situations. He was better at the killing, manipulating people. Not the huggy, squishiness of emotions.

Thea looked away, muttering to herself in Loric as she vented her frustrations. Five didn't say anything, he just stood there awkwardly. This was **not** how he thought this was going to go.

Miraculously, the librarian at the front of the room hadn't seemed to hear anything, or maybe she just didn't care; either way Thea was glad that there was no audience. She refused to look Five in the eye as she turned back around to pick up the things she had thrown.

"...Just-just go" sighed Thea sounding defeated.

"What?" asked Five, seemingly regaining his senses.

"Go. Away" grit out Thea, tears blurring her vision as she tried to furiously wipe them away on the sleeve of her hoodie. She didn't look up again until she could no longer hear the rasping breaths behind her, signalling Five had left.

She couldn't have felt more alone.

* * *

Back in the hallway, Five tried to push his latest interaction with Thea to the back of his mind. He had other things to worry about. Like why Dot was headed briskly towards the tube room. Flashing in behind Dot, Five sat huddled behind a collection of tubes as he listened to what was going on.

"Gloria, the Handler knows that Five is up to something" she hurriedly muttered, handing Gloria the pod as she did so,"Get this to Hazel and Cha-Cha immediately.

"Uh" stuttered Gloria as she read over the inscription on the pod.

"Immediately"

"Okay. Yeah...Uh, who are they?" Gloria mumbled to herself as she shuffled along to the correct tube. Suddenly she fell to the floor, the sound of a stapler going off as she hit the ground, unconscious. Five stood over her body.

Quickly grabbing the pod off of the floor, he unscrewed the lid and quickly took out the message reading the inscription on the paper. Shoving said message into his pocket, he took out two more slips of paper and set to work.

One was sent to Hazel and the other to Cha-Cha, each being told to kill the other. Because what the Commission wants, the Commission gets. "You know that's not how we do things here" scolded the Handler, having caught him in the act of using the tubes, "Where's Gloria?"

"Don't know. Couldn't find her anywhere" replied Five, faking concern as he leant against the tubes next to him. A low groan from Gloria came from behind her desk as she began to stir.

"You're a great disappointment to me. You can't change what's to come, Five" said the Handler as Five moved into the centre of the hallway, a look of determination on his face "I truly find it so odd that you can't shed this fantasy. You're a first rate pragmatist. You belong here with us"

"I don't _belong_ anywhere, thanks to you. You made me a killer"

"You were always a killer" the Handler unzipped the side of her dress, the long slit that ran the length of her leg revealed what she had hidden beneath, "I just pointed you in a direction" She pulled her prized pistol from the garter on her leg and fired rapidly at where Five was standing.

The sound of the alarm blared through the halls as Gloria crawled out of the office under gunfire and into the welcoming arms of her colleagues. Five tried in vain to distract the Handler long enough so that he could find a way to get out.

"What's the rush Five?" she called firing when she spotted even a glimpse of him, "We're just getting started. Is this really how you want the last line of your report to read?"

"When I'm done, I'm just done I guess" replied Five, reappearing in plain view sweat starting to gather on his brow.

"You can't keep this up, Five. We both know that even you have a limit...I _saved you_ from a lifetime of being alone. You owe me" she drawled, aiming to fire once more. Only there were no more bullets and a smug Five now stood before her.

"I do owe a debt" stated Five, flashing from one end of the hallway to the entrance, armed grenade in hand, "But it's not to you" he rolled the grenade into the room where it stopped at the Handler's feet.

Five took cover around the corner. It took seconds for the explosion to rip through the room and then he was gone, setting fire to the briefcase room and running off to find Thea. Or in this case, she found him.


	22. Paradise by the Dashboard Light

_**A Few Moments Earlier**_

Having cleaned up the mess she had made, a teary-eyed Thea set about putting back the books she'd read on the book shelves. Despite what she had revealed to Five, it had felt good it finally release some of the pent up emotions. It was almost therapeutic, in a way.

It was when she was trying to shove the book about string theory back into place, that she found it. It had been wedged in between the books on the shelf opposite hers. Dropping the book in question to the floor with a small thud, she pulled out the item that had caught her attention.

Turning over the item in her hands, a gasp became lodged in her throat. It was a silver chest. And not just any silver chest, it was a Loric chest. Thea felt frozen in place as she ran her fingers over the engraving on the lid marking it as Two's.

Grasping the lock in her shaky hands, Thea felt it give with a small click revealing the Loric goodies inside. It couldn't be real, could it? It felt real, she sure hoped it was. But how'd it end up here?

"Pretty isn't it?" a sickly sweet voice from behind her called. Thea quickly snapped the lid shut, the chest automatically locking as it did so. She spun on her heel, clutching the chest to her as her gaze fell upon the familiar portly woman at the end of the aisle.

"Roselyn?" she cautiously called, trying to hide the chest from the woman. Somehow, she felt she couldn't trust her.

"I've been trying to get that thing open for years" Roselyn continued, walking further down the aisle, her heels clacking loudly as she came closer to Thea who pressed the chest closer still. Those heels almost sounding like drums of war. "Of course, I finally figured out I would need someone special to unlock it for me" Roselyn murmured, now standing in front of Thea.

Roselyn's overwhelming perfume of vanilla and rose was almost choking Thea as she flinched back from the hand that stroked her cheek. This close, Thea could feel the heavy breath of the woman in front of her and see the tattoos that the make-up was trying to cover; hidden beneath the all too perfect hair-do.

"But now I've got you, little Loric" Now Thea remembered why she hadn't like Roselyn all those years ago. The memory had been repressed and for good reason, this portly woman with her luscious fake red locks and beady eyes. She was Mogadorian.

* * *

Thea couldn't really remember how the fight had begun, it was just a blur of limbs and emotion. But here she was running for her life in socked feet, the remains of a t-shirt and with a chest tucked down her pants. The two ginger toms that had been strutting around the library earlier, had turned out to be chimeras; how Roselyn had gotten her hands on not one but two, she'd never know.

Not that it mattered now, they were hunting her down like prey. But there were only so many places she could hide in a library, even in one as sophisticated as this._ There was something to be said for the strength of chimeras_, Thea thought as she slid around yet another corner, she could hear them crashing through the gated sections, tearing them apart as if they were nothing more than cardboard cutouts. It was a wonder no one had come running yet. At least they were leashed.

"Come out, come out, little Loric! Come out, come out and play!" sang Roselyn as she strolled down the aisles at a more leisurely pace, the weapon she had acquired swinging by her side. Backed into a corner, Thea found there was nowhere left to run.

To the right and left of her was a snarling chimera, and in front of her stood Roselyn, her firearm trained on Thea. In that moment, memories of the past superimposed themselves over the figure at hand and the blood that was pounding in her head began to roar and blocking out the taunts coming from Roselyn's mouth that had flowed out to background noise.

With nowhere left to run and nowhere left to hide, she felt as if she was back at square one. Back to being five years old and running for her life. Nothing had changed. She was going to die. There in that moment, with the threats closing in, Thea could almost feel it. Could almost taste it.

Feel what she had, when she was 16, the same feeling she had when was 5. All she needed was a push. One little push. One Roselyn was about to give her. "Awe! Don't worry little Loric!" cooed Roselyn teasingly, "You'll see your siblings sooner than you think"

Something in Thea snapped, it was the push she needed. Launching herself forward, with the promise of bloodshed in her eyes, she teleported. Jumping in spurts towards Roselyn and fuelled by her emotions, she was able to create enough force to not only drive Roselyn away, but through the opposing wall as well.

The rage fuelling her was like a roaring inferno as she jumped once more, landing in front of the fallen form of the Mogadorian. There was the sound of the chimaeras whinging and the adrenaline fuelled Lumen that sang in her blood, lighting her up as she brought down a loralite encrusted fist, beating in the face of the creature beneath her.

Blood splattered the side of her face as she struck again and again, however it wasn't without a struggle. Roselyn had managed to get a few licks in, the blood pouring from the cut above her eye could attest to that.

When the final blow was dealt, Roselyn fell limp her arms before turning to dust. It was only as she came down from her adrenaline fuelled high that she realised there was other things going on around her.

The sound of an alarm was blaring loudly in her ears, although that could have been her blood still pounding and the smell of smoke permeating the air. The briefcase room across from her was ablaze. Not that it seemed to register.

A small hand wrapped itself her forearm, pulling her upwards to stand on shaky feet. Her head turned slowly to see Five standing there clutching a briefcase in one hand and her forearm in the other. She wasn't the only one that looked like shit. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't seem to hear anything. Logically she knew it was shock.

Five having received no real response from Thea, pulled her to him, placing the briefcase between the two as the windows of the briefcase room blew outwards, engulfing the two in flames. Or they would have, had the briefcase not activated. Hurtling through space and time, Five and Thea arrived back at the Hargreeves' home. It was almost like they hadn't left.

* * *

_**Wednesday 8.15am (again)**_

The four remaining Hargreeves siblings sat clustered around the bar in the living room, trying to figure out what to do about the apocalypse thing. "Wait...Hold the phone. We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?" asked Klaus gesturing towards Luthor.

"Klaus, shockingly has a point" added Diego from his spot behind the bar where he was twirling knives between his fingers, "What gives us a win this time?" The lights in the room suddenly flickered furiously as a familiar portal of blue lit up the bar top.

This time two figures fell from the portal before it closed, landing on one on top of the other, emitting loud groans as they did so. "Je-Jesus!" cursed Alison as everyone jumped backwards from the sudden appearance of Five and Thea.

"You guys, am I still high or do you see them, too?" groaned Klaus from where he had collapsed on the chaise. On the bar top lay a wheezing Thea on the bottom of the pile, a small silver chest clutched in her arms, a rather large black briefcase next and Five on top. They looked like a right mess.

"Five, where've you been?" asked Luthor as Five tumbled off of Thea and the counter onto the floor, ignoring the grabby hands that were trying to hoist him upright.

"Hey kid, you good?" Diego asked Thea where she still lay on the bar; all he received was a low groan as she tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her upon landing. She could confidently say that the shock was gone by now. Five had made sure of that.

"Are you all right?" Alison asked Five.

"Who did this?" added Luthor.

"Irrelevant" muttered Five as he limped forward and snatched Alison's coffee from her, gulping down the rest of the scolding liquid, "So the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us"

"The Umbrella Academy" reiterated Luthor.

"Yeah, but with me, obviously" corrected Five chucking the empty coffee cup over his shoulder, "So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us? No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead" pep-talked Five, pulling out the slightly torn and dusty message from his pocket.

"I know whose responsible for the apocalypse. This is who we have to stop" ended Five, handing the message to Alison who read it for everyone else.

"Harold Jenkins"

"Who the _hell_ is Harold Jenkins?!" demanded Diego.


	23. The Day that Was

_**1st October 1989**_

_**On the seventh hour of the first day of October, 1989, a woman went into labour. This was unusual in no way whatsoever. The culmination of a normal, average pregnancy. The child, Harold Jenkins, was average in every way.**_

_**Unfortunately for the world, his raising was anything but. With the loss of his mother at birth, he was left with his father to raise him alone.**_

_**October 2002**_

_**"Help! Harold! Help us!" cried a 13 year old Harold, as he played with his Umbrella Academy figurines, imagining himself as part of the family he always wanted, "Worry not, Umbrella Academy. I'll save you from the evil Doctor Terminal!"**_

_**Harold violently shoved the figurines to the floor as he 'fought' the enemy, ignoring the loud slam of the door as it swung open. "Harold, put away those stupid dolls" ordered his father, as Harold packed away his most prized possessions, "And get me a beer...And hurry up about it!"**_

_**Harold hurried to retrieve the bottle of beer from the fridge, afraid of what his father might do if he failed to do so. He paused by the kitchen counter, reading over the latest edition of the 'Umbrella Academy' comic, flipping to the back cover where they advertised the last figurine in the set; the Reginald Hargreeves figurine.**_

_**Forgetting about the beer for a moment, Harold flicked through the comic in his hands, eagerly delving into the world of superheroes and monsters. He received a beating for his insolence.**_

_**March 2007**_

_**That evening, (after yet another regular beating) Harold sat bruised and bloody in his bedroom, the relaxing repetition of the pull and tug of the needle as he sewed up the garment in his hands. It felt as if he was pushing all of his anger at his father into the garment.**_

_**Using washer tape and cut-outs from the newspaper, he fashioned his own version of the Umbrella Academy uniform. It wasn't as nice as the real ones, or the costume ones at the store. But it was special, because he made it. Because he was special.**_

* * *

_**They say you should never meet your heroes, they're right. Harold wove his way through the crowd of fans, decked out in his handmade uniform as he pushed his way over to the Hargreeves' car.**_

_**He tried to convince Mr Hargreeves that he was special, that he just hadn't discovered them yet. Not only was he rejected right away by the straight-laced Hargreeves, the crowd behind him began to jeer, laughing and pointing at him as he watched the car full of children speed away. **_

_**The back window showed several masked faces peering back at him. His heroes had turned sour. There was only one face that stared at him unmasked, it was sweet and kind filled with concern. It made his anger burn brighter.**_

* * *

_**Back home, Harold stared at the empty spot in his Umbrella Academy collection, the Reginald Hargreeves' spot filled with his hatred. How dare he? How dare he mock him? He was special, dammit! Harold vowed to make everyone pay. The Umbrella Academy, his father, the people who mocked him. **_

_**"Harold! Get your ass down here!" his father called, his angry voice echoing around the attic. They would pay, they would all pay. Starting with his father.**_

* * *

_**Harold hurried down the attic stairs, coming to a stop in front of his father's towering frame, head lowered as he had been taught to do. "What's that shit on your face?" slurred Mr Jenkins, pulling the face mask off of Harold's face in one swift motion and tossed it aside.**_

_**"Make yourself useful and go get me another beer" Me Jenkins ordered the fallen boy as he tossed the cardboard mask aside and returned to his place in the armchair. Harold quickly pulled himself to his feet and hurried off to the kitchen.**_

_**"Hurry up!" called Mr Jenkins. Harold replaced the mask on his face, and returned on quiet feet to the living room where his dozing father lay. Clutching tightly to the hammer in his hand, he raised it in the air before bringing it down on the back of his father's head as hard as he could. Blinded by rage and hatred, Harold rained down hit after hit, not caring about the blood that splattered against him, nor the consequences. **_

_**24th March 2019**_

_**He got twelve years. They did nothing to lessen his feelings. Harold had gone in as a child, he came out as a man, one fuelled by the hatred he had felt as a child. Instead of letting go of his past obsessions, like his therapist had instructed, he'd clung onto them like a lifeline. Following each and every member of the academy as they split apart and went their seperate ways.**_

_**So here he found himself, standing outside the Hargreeves' childhood home, today's newspaper clutched in his hands. The front page article took up most of the first page and part of the second; it had been dedicated to the eulogy of the late Reginald Hargreeves. **_

_**Harold had been staking out the Hargreeves' house for some time now; only one person of interest had exited the building. The Séance or Klaus, had come rushing out, a gold-encrusted box clutched in his hands.**_

_**Following him around the corner and down the alley behind the house, Harold waited until Klaus had left, dumping all the contents of the box into the dumpster before he went to see what he could salvage.**_

_** He'd hit the jackpot. A red leather-bound journal with the initials 'R.H' engraved on the front, now lay in his hands, amongst other small treasures that had been hidden in that box. **_

_**Flicking through the journal, he found handwritten notes on each member of the Umbrella Academy. It detailed their powers, their weaknesses and most importantly how to deal with them.**_

* * *

"Harold Jenkins?" Alison read aloud to the others cluttered around her.

"Who the _hell _is Harold Jenkins?!" demanded Diego as the siblings looked towards Five.

"I don't know...yet" replied Five chucking the empty coffee cup over his shoulder, "But I do know that he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now"

"How is he connected to what's going to happen" questioned Luthor.

"I don't know"

"Wait, so you just know his name? That's it" asked Diego.

"That's enough"

"There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkinses in the city"

"Well, we just better start looking then"

"I'm sorry. Am I the only one that's skeptical here?" asked Alison as Five shifted slightly, feeling a twinge of pain shoot up his side.

"Who the hell gives a damn?" asked Thea as she finally regained her breathing and rolled off of the bar top onto the floor. The siblings' attention was now on her as she pulled off the remains of her t-shirt and chucked it in the bin, leaving her in only her busted sports bra and cutoff jeans , "I mean, you've finally got a name. Which is more than you had before, so why are you complaining?"

"I mean, how exactly do you know all of this about what's his name?" replied Alison, arms crossed as she turned to face Five, whom most likely had the answers.

"Harold Jenkins" corrected Five, "You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?"

"Oh yeah, I think I remember those guys" Klaus replied sassily as he moved to collapse on the chaise next to him.

"Oh yeah, the ones who attacked us while you were getting drunk" added Diego, full of sass.

"Yeah. Them" replied Five not at all deterred by their tones, "They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth"

"The Temps what?" asked Alison skeptically.

"My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen...happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was meant for said lunatics. _'Protect Harold Jenkins'_ So he **must** be responsible for the apocalypse"

There was a moment of silence before the siblings started talking over each other. Alison, Diego and Luthor were wanting answers to their questions, Klaus looked like he was going to fall over and Five was not far behind.

Thea, in the mean time, had tucked Two's chest under her arm as she pulled out a bottle of sherry and was just drinking straight from the bottle.

"...Do have any idea how insane this sounds?" asked Alison, her question finally being heard over the others. Five's head snapped up from where he had been starting to inspect his side.

"You know what else is insane?" he retorted pointing to each person in turn "I look like a 13 year-old boy, Klaus talks to the dead, Thea's an alien and Luthor thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat. Everything about us is insane. It always has been"

"He's got a point there" interjected Klaus from where he lay slumped over in his seat, seemingly ignoring the alien comment or just too out of it to care.

"We didn't choose this life, we're just living it. For the next three days anyway"

"But the last time we tried to stop it, we **all **died" Alison reminded, "Why is this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?"

"Because this time, I'm here. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys we actually have a chance of saving the lives of billions of people...Including Claire"

"...You know her name?"

"I do, and I'd like to live long enough to meet her"

"All right. Let's get this bastard"

"You had me at Gerald Jenkins" added Diego

_"Harold _Jenkins" corrected Five.

"Whatever. I've already lost two people this week, I'm not losing anyone else"

"And Luthor?" Five asked the giant sulking man.

"Yeah, you guys go. I'm gonna stay here and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do with why he sent me to the moon"

"Seriously? Now you wanna make the end of the world about you and Dad?" remarked Diego.

"No. 'Watch for threats' That's what he told me. You think that's a coincidence? This all has to be connected somehow" reasoned Luthor.

_"Watch for threats?'_ Well, great job there, big boy. You missed one" retorted Diego gesturing to Thea who responded with a deadpanned, "Boo!"

"We don't have time for this!" interrupted Five.

"Let's roll. I know where we can find this asshole. Klaus, you're with me" instructed Diego, taking the lead.

"Yeah I-I'm good" said Klaus as he slowly pushed himself up from the chaise and shuffled out of the room, "I think I'll, uh...I think I'll pass...Feeling a little under the weather so, uh..."

"It's okay, I'll go" added Thea as she made her way out the door, pulling on a spare coat from the coat rack as she did so.

"You sure?" asked Five, no doubt taking note of her rapidly healing injuries as he, Diego and Alison followed out after them.

"Yeah, besides if I have to listen to Luthor go on about the moon one more time, I'm gonna poke my eye out with a spoon"


	24. Secret

"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record" stated Diego as he parked the Rolls Royce next to the sheriff's department, "We just gotta get our hands on this file"

"And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" sassed Alison.

"I know this station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside"

"Handcuffed"

"Whatever. Here's the plan..."

"Plan?" interjected Five from the passenger seat, "I'm just gonna blink in and get the file"

"No, that's not...You don't knows the ins and outs of this place, okay?"

"I literally just did this yesterday"

"What?"

"Well, _my_ yesterday not your yesterday. It'll take me two seconds. Why don't I just go?"

Thea tuned out the rest of the boys' bickering with a sigh. No matter how old they were, testosterone was still a pain in the ass. Gripping her wallet through her coat pocket, she opened the door and got out, heading towards the boutique store across the road.

"Woah! Where are you going?" demanded Diego as he noticed she had gotten out of the car. Coming over to Five's window, she leant down with her arms on the window sill, looking very close to being hit my oncoming traffic.

"Look, while you two are busy squabbling, I'm gonna go get a shirt and by the time I get back, this is all gonna be solved, okay?" instructed Thea, taking on a motherly tone. Alison could barely restrain the smirk "Good"

* * *

A few moments later, Thea found herself standing on a street corner next to Five as Alison left a voicemail for Vanya. "What are you doing?" Five asked, giving her an odd look as he watched Thea pull her busted bra out through the sleeve of her new Queen band t-shirt.

"What does it look like?" replied Thea as she slipped on her new bra under her t-shirt with practised hands before slinging the old bra in a rubbish bin that stood nearby. A few moments later, Alison ended her call and Diego returned with a blue folder.

"So?" asked Five pushing off from the wall.

"Your welcome" replied Diego smugly as he handed the folder to Alison who in turned snatched it from him and quickly flipped open the folder and flicked through spotting a couple of mugshots as she did so.

"Holy shit" she cursed, stopping on one mugshot in particular.

"What?" chorused the boys as they all huddled together.

"Harold Jenkins _is_ Leonard Peabody"

* * *

The quartet pulled up to a quaint little house in the middle of the suburbs; this being the last known address of Harold Jenkins. "Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of" warned Alison, sisterly instincts kicking in.

"Yeah, well, he didn't seem that dangerous when I first saw him" replied Diego as they walked up the front steps, "Looked kinda scrawny"

"Yeah, well so are most serial killers and mass murderers"

"Just look at him" added Thea gesturing towards Five.

"Thanks" said Five.

"Good point" muttered Diego, "So what's this guy want with Vanya?"

"I don't know, how about we ask him after we kill him?" retorted Five as he and Diego took the front door, whilst Alison and Thea went around the back.

"You think I could add breaking and entering to my special skills?" joked Alison as she jiggled the door knob before standing back when Thea stepped forward, loralite formed around her pointer finger in the perfect replication of the key needed.

"What d'ya break?" replied Thea with a smirk as the door lock open with a gentle click and the door swung inwards, letting them in the house. A loud crash followed by a groan caught their attention and they cautiously made their way forward, joining Five who stood over a groaning Diego on the floor amongst a pile of glass.

"Subtle" commented Alison.

"Y'know, the door was unlocked" added Five opening said door as Diego stood up.

"Yeah, well my way works just fine. Spread out. Yell if you, uh...you know, you're in trouble" sighed Diego moving to search the living room.

"Ah inspiring leadership" muttered Five.

"One of the greats" added Alison sarcastically before the trio split up to search the rest of the house.

* * *

There wasn't much that seemed out of place. Or at least nothing that screamed killer. If anything, the home seemed like it had been decorated by a woman, not a guy. Thea had pulled a book from the shelf, it was Vanya's autobiography and looked to be well read. But other than that, it was just an ordinary house.

"Guys...you need to see this" called Alison from up in the attic, "All our face are burnt off" she explained once everyone was gathered in the cramped little attic. The room was odd. The slanted walls had been wallpaper with images and posters of the Umbrella Academy throughout their lives but all of their faces had been scratched or damaged in some way.

None of the figurines on the shelves had any faces, just as Alison had described and old newspaper clippings seemed to be cut out and tacked at random to different spots in the room behind the memorabilia. "Well, that's not creepy" Diego muttered sarcastically, "This guy's got some serious issues"

"...This was never about Vanya. This was about us" deduced Alison as Five gasped, clutching onto his side, the pain intensified and blood pouring down his leg. He just had to hold out a little longer.

"Five!" called Thea, rushing to his side as he collapsed to the floor, Diego and Alison joining her.

"Wh-blood?" questioned Alison as she gingerly pulled his vest and shirt up to reveal the bullet wound in his side"

"Gods, Five" breathed Thea, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You have to keep going...so...close" whispered Five as he lost consciousness.

"Five? Five!" called Alison as she gave him a small shake and Diego patted his cheek; trying to wake him up. Thea placed two of her fingers on his neck and found a pulse, it was weak, but it was there.

"He needs help. Now" instructed Thea, looking back at the older two next to her as she pulled her fingers off of his neck.

* * *

The drive back to the Hargreeves' home was a stressful one. Alison and Diego sat in the front seats, with Alison at the wheel. Diego kept turning around to look back at the smaller two in the back seat, a look of worry on his face. Alison would glance periodically in the rearview mirror, going as fast she possibly could.

Thea didn't take her gaze off of Five as she pressed the already soaked bandage against his wound, watching as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Only the scrunch of his brows showed her the amount of pain he was in.

Though the pulsing black veins running up her arms told her how much pain he was really in. After he began to stir for a second time, Thea began to murmur a Loric prayer under her breath, not really sure if the prayer was for her (as she took as much of his pain as she could) or for him to hang onto to help him remain somewhat conscious.

In no time they arrived back at the house where Alison helped her carry his limp body inside with Diego holding open the doors for them. "We should've taken him to the hospital" worried Alison as they placed him on the nearest couch.

"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions" slurred Five, barely conscious.

"Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic" retorted Alison, "He's still losing a lot of blood. What do we do?"

"We gotta get the shrapnel out" replied Thea as she rolled up her sleeves and carefully pulled the bandage off to reveal the wound.

"Do you know how to help him?" she asked Thea who was gently trying to clean as much of the blood off as she could despite Five's groans.

"I know how to treat a Loric" replied Thea gritting her teeth against the pain she was taking, the black veins continuing to pulse up her arm, "But human's are much more fragile. I don't want to accidentally kill him"

"Wha-? Diego where are you going?" Alison suddenly demanded as she watched her brother walk off, calling for their mother.

"Grace is here?" asked Thea looking up at Alison, "Go get here, she'll know what to do"

* * *

Both Diego and Alison watched on as Grace sat by Five's side, placing the last of the medical tape around the square of gauze, keeping it in place. Thea had wandered off not long after Grace had removed the shrapnel, with the excuse of washing the blood of her.

But she had this look in her eyes, like she didn't want to leave Five, like she was worried he might disappear. It was the same look Alison wore when she was talking about Claire, or one of her brothers.

Which was odd, Thea had only known Five for a couple of days. How could she be so protective already? Maybe it wasn't Five she was seeing? That would make sense, Klaus had let slip that she had lost someone recently. It could be them.

"Anything?" sighed Diego, glancing at his sister.

"There's no answer at Vanya's place. _And_ the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today" whispered Alison. "...Hey, you okay?" she asked as Diego turned from the doorway.

"Yeah...I don't know, it's just surreal seeing her. I just want to tell her that I'm s...We don't have enough time. We gotta go" he murmured.

"I don't know, Diego. Five is laying there unconscious and Thea looked pretty shaken up. We need them"

"We can do this ourselves"

"We did that already, remember? We all ended up dead. I don't know, I'm just...I'm thinking maybe I should go back and see Claire before I-"

"You can't run away from this, Alison. That's what started this whole mess in the first place...Luthor was right"

"I didn't think I would ever hear you say those words" stated Alison, eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah, well...We gotta stick together"

"...Where do we start?"

"There's no other addresses in the file, but there is another relation listed. Jenkins' grandmother She lived near Jackpine road" stated Diego as the two began to descend the staircase, sparing one last glance at the brother and mother.

"You think he took her there?"

"It's a good enough place to start"


	25. Hallelujah

After spending a solid hour in the shower, washing away blood that was no longer there, Thea pulled on a pair of red flannel pajama bottoms and an oversized grey t-shirt that read _'Take me to your Leader'_. She slowly made her way back to Five's room, hugging both her chest and Two's in her arms, (her back was twinging again, but she just assumed it was from how she had landed earlier with Five and the briefcase on top of her).

She stood in the doorway for a moment as she watched Grace finish cleaning up the medical supplies and double checked the IV bag in the corner. "Is he going to be okay?" Thea asked quietly, shifting slightly, thoughts of her brothers' lying in a similar position flashed through her mind.

"He'll be fine" replied Grace with a smile as she picked up the first-aid kit and made her way towards the door, her movements appearing a little slow, showing that she needed to recharge. Thea shifted again, fighting the need for physical contact.

Throwing caution to the wind, Thea wrapped her arms around Grace hugging her tight. It took a few seconds for Grace to respond in kind, wrapping her arms around the short girl. It seemed that this is all Thea needed, for she seemed to melt into the hug, clutching tightly to Grace.

Thea stayed there in that embrace for as long as she could, her eyes closed as she breathed in Grace's scent of robotic wiring and floral perfume. "Is something wrong, Thea?" Grace asked as she finally pulled out of the hug.

"...I just needed a hug" replied Thea looking down at her shuffling feet. There was a beat of silence before Grace spoke again.

"Well, will you look after Five, while I recharge?" she asked.

"O-okay" Thea shuffled over to the nook by the bed and the drawers and sat down on the floor, pulling a spare blanket and cushion with her. Grace watched with a smile as Thea seemed to make a nest for herself in the small nook next to Five's bed, before she turned and headed out the door.

Thea sat on the cushion, leaning back against the wall as she arranged the blanket over her legs so it sat comfortably. Hugging both Loric chests to her, she drifted off, watching the gentle rise and fall of Five's chest.

* * *

Klaus didn't know where he was, which wasn't uncommon, but still concerning. No one really wants to wake up in the middle of the woods alone. Or at all. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he thought?

Spinning in a circle, he finally caught sight of a young girl cycling down the path toward him. Waving his hand in the air, he called out for her to stop. "Hello!" he greeted as the girl came to a stop in front of him.

"Almost didn't see you, you blend right in around here" she commented, "So pale and all"

"Hm"

"They don't have any sun down there?" she asked.

"Down there?" Klaus repeated confused, "Where am I?"

"Where do you think?" replied the girl.

"I'm not sure...I'm agnostic, so-"

"Doesn't really matter. You _can't_ stay here"

"Why not?"

"To be blunt, I don't really like you all that much"

"Mm. Yeah, me neither...But wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to love all of us?"

"Where'd you get that idea?" she scoffed, "I need you so I can pick and choose. And you don't rub me the right way"

"Wait...So you-you made us? You made me?"

"Well, I made everything else, so I must've made you...Why? Do you have another idea?"

"Maybe. A couple. I don't know"

"Well, then keep them to yourself. Time is flying, so hurry up. He's waiting for you"

"...Who is?" The girl merely pointed off to the left where a small shack sat by the side of the road, "Dave" he smiled before sprinting off to the shack calling for Dave.

* * *

Once inside, he found himself inside an empty barber's shop. The only sound in the store was the indistinct chatter of the radio. Wandering over to a chair, Klaus sat down with a sigh as he was prepped for a shave, by a pair of hands that had suddenly appeared behind him.

"What in God's name took you so long?" demanded Reginald as he laid out his tools on the bench next to him.

"...Dad" muttered Klaus as he pulled the warm towel from his face and stared up at the familiar cold dead eyes he had grown up with.

"I expected my son who can conjure the dead to have brought me forth days ago" Reginald ploughed on.

"Oh, yeah, well, you see...It's complicated. Y'know, I-I tried, I-" Klaus was cut off by the shaving cream being slathered on his face.

"You were poisoning yourself" corrected Reginald.

"Well, what do you expect? You just died. I was beside myself with grief"

"Don't you dare try to use me as an excuse for your weakness"

"Oh right well, yeah, you had nothing to do with it" replied Klaus, sarcasm heavy on his tongue, "Locking me in a mausoleum with corpses when I was 13? No, you're right it's irrelevant...Ah-ah-ah-ah, careful Dad" he warned as Reginald raised the blade to shave off his scruff.

"Don't worry, you're already dead" He raised the blade once more and began to shave.

"Oh. Well, that's a relief"

"You children liked to blame everything on me"

"Well, you were a sadistic prick. Not to mention the world's worst father"

"I just wanted you to live up to your potential. You especially. You're my greatest disappointment, Number Four. You only scratched the surface of what you were truly capable of. If only you'd focus!"

"Wait, wait, wait. What...potential?"

"No instead, you pump yourself full of poison because you're _afraid._ Afraid of what? The dark?"

"Y'know, I suggest you get down off your high horse there, dear Papa. You never had our best interests at heart. Look at your precious Number One. Luthor found all the unopened letters he'd sent you. He knows that you sent him up to the moon for nothing"

"...That was foolish of me. I should of burned it all"

"...That's your takeaway?" laughed Klaus, "Yeah, oh wow. Of course it is"

"Not an ideal solution, I confess. But I knew that the world would soon need him, need all of you. Even that little Loric, so I had to do what was necessary...Is he okay?"

"What do you care?"

"Everything I did, everything I put you through, it was to prepare you, all of you, for something bigger than yourselves. You never understood that"

"We were...we were just kids. Little kids"

"You were never just kids. You were meant to save the world"

"Wait, wait. So you knew, knew all about this? About the apocalypse?"

"I knew that I had to bring you all back together, one way or another. The fate of the world depended on it"

"Wh-What are you saying?"

"The only way to get you all back together was something...momentous"

"Wait. You...No. You don't mean...you killed yourself?"

"Mm"

"Oh, Christ! You could never do things the easy way, could you? You couldn't have picked up a phone?"

"Would you have answered?...Now listen to me, Number Four. What I'm about to say is of great importan-"

"No, no, no, no...! I can't! I can't!" pleaded Klaus as the sound of techno filtered in through the barber shop, "I can't go back! I can't go back! No! Wait! Stay!" Coming to on the floor of the nightclub, Klaus found himself to be in a circle of people with Luthor nowhere in sight.

* * *

When Five next stirred, he found himself back in his bedroom hooked up to an IV bag in the corner. There was a quiet chuckle from the floor next to his bed that caught his attention. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he looked over towards the sound where he found Thea sitting with her back pressed against the wall, an ornate silver chest open in her lap and another one closed next to her.

She was currently staring at a worn photo in her hands, running her finger over the people in the image. "What'cha got there?" Five rasped, his voice heavy with sleep. Thea quickly shut the chest with a snap, looking as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have.

"Oh, Five! You're awake" she mumbled when she caught his gaze on her, "I should let Grace know" she muttered as she stood up, her back and legs letting out a _crack_ and _pop_ as she did so.

"Wait!" He called, making her halt at the door, the chests tucked away in her arms, "What are they?"

"...They're, um, just some things from home" Thea replied quietly as she glanced down at the items in question.

"...Can I see?"

"Um...I guess..." Thea made her way back over to the bedside and sat down in the chair Grace had occupied earlier in the evening. Placing Two's chest on the bedside table, she proceeded to hold onto the lock on her chest for a few seconds as the lumen unlocked it.

Inside the chest was various different pouches containing stones and orbs. Thea felt Five's eyes watch her every move as her hands passed over every item in the box including her diamond-edged dagger sat tucked away in its sheath, until she finally found what she was looking for.

It was a small black velvet pouch which contained her favourite items, the planetary coloured glass stones. Opening the pouch, she poured the stones in to the palm of her hand, cupping her hands together she brought them to her mouth to blow on them; before she threw them into the air, ignoring Five's flinch as he expected the stones to rain down on him.

Instead, they stayed floating in the air, the stones orbiting each other much like real planets would. "This is our solar system" introduced Thea, watching the familiar orbs with happiness, "That's Earth, and Lorien and our two moons"

"Remarkable" muttered Five in awe as he watched the orbs spin lazily above his head, "How long does it take to get from Lorien to Earth?" he asked looking at his small home planet.

"About 300 million miles...so about a year" replied Thea.

"A year?"

"Mm" she replied, plucking all of the stones out of the air and putting them back in the pouch. All except for the one representing Lorien. For that, she simply held the stone in her cupped hands as the ignited themselves in lumen, softly illuminating the ceiling above them like a projector screen.

"This is Lorien. Off to the north is the Valley of the Dancing Stars..." she explained softly, pointing out different locations as she went. Five leant back against his pillows, staring up in wonder at the colours that danced across his bedroom ceiling. It was beautiful. It felt like he was dreaming and soon he was, drifting back off to the dancing stars and Thea's soft lilting tone.

This was nice...while it lasted.


	26. I Heard a Rumour

_**"Oh! Can you tell us another one? Please?" pleaded Ten as she and the others clumped together around the bonfire, "One of the Earthen ones?" Mori, her cepân chuckled, rubbing his chin as he thought of a short tale to tell the children and their guardians gathered around the fire.**_

_**Glancing around at the children he saw thatTwo, Three and Six sat next to Ten to the left of the bonfire while One, Four, Five, Seven, Eight and Nine sat spread out to the right. Eight and Nine had fallen asleep leaning on each other, despite their attempts to stay awake through the night. Four and Five weren't far behind.**_

_**"Alright, one here's one more, and then it's off to bed with you!" he warned, a light teasing in his tone. Ten's face brightened at the admission, "It was a dark, cold night when a small flaxen-haired girl walked the streets in the twilight. She wore little clothing and no shoes, her feet blue and numb with cold**_

_**A sad and downcast expression lay across her face, for she had sold no matches that night. Her father would surely beat her if she returned home empty handed; she dared not go. The smell of roasted goose floated through the air and lights shone in every house lining the street. It was New Year's Eve**_

_**She stood by the bridge, staring at the matches in her hand. 'Dare I strike one?' she whispered and then she did, the spluttering light warming her if only for a moment. She fancied herself sitting by a warm stove, but just as she was stretching her toes out to meet the warmth, the light went out**_

_**She struck another match. This time she saw a plump roast goose stuffed with apples and prunes lying on the table before, an elaborate dinner just for her. She was just about to dig in when the light went out once more.**_

_**Striking another, she found herself beholding a great Christmas tree, its lights and bulbs hanging overhead. Wrapped presents lay underneath in pretty paper and tied with ribbons of gold and silver. At the very top sat a glittering fairy, with her twinkling wand. But as the little girl reached out to touch the fairy, it disappeared in a flash as the match went out.**_

_**Looking up at the stars above, she saw a shooting star zoom across the sky. 'That's someone dying' She thought of her Granny then. Igniting another match, the girl saw her grandmother standing there, in front of her, in the snow. 'Take me with you, Granny!' cried the girl. The girl didn't want her Granny to disappear, so she ignited the rest of the matches; they lit up and flared, bright as day.**_

_**Her Granny grew tall and beautiful, picking up the little girl in her arms and carried away into heaven where there was no cold, nor hunger, nor fear. In the first light of the New Year, the little matchgirl was found, frozen to death with a smile upon her face.**_

_**'Look how she was trying to keep herself warm' the people said, but they didn't know how happily she had gone into the New Year with her Granny"**_

* * *

"Wakey, wakey! Eggs and bakey!" sang Klaus as he walked down the hall, ringing a bell as he did so. Coming to Five's closed door, he knocked on the door once, before moving to open it. However, he could only open it a crack before he met resistance and a groan.

Peering down at the noise, he found what was blocking the door. It was Thea. She was curled up on Five's floor, swaddled in blankets and clutching onto two ornate silver boxes. "What do you want, Klaus?" groaned Five as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"Wow, you like shit" Klaus commented, ringing the bell in his hand as he waved his hands around, taking in Five who swung his legs over the bed and gently disconnected himself from the IV bag.

"Thanks" Five replied dryly, not looking up at his brother as he pulled on a pair of blue flannel pajamas.

"I see you got a new doorstop" teased Klaus as he squeezed through the door and came to a stop inside Five's bedroom, stepping over Thea's form as he did so. He only received a grunt in reply.

"Klaus! What is it?" repeated Five, finally meeting his brother's gaze.

"Oh! Important business. Meet me downstairs in the kitchen, okay?" replied Klaus as he walked back out the door, stepping over Thea once more. Once he was gone, Five looked down at Thea who was beginning to stir.

Heaving a sigh, he pulled himself up and made his way over to her slumbering form. He stared at her for a moment before softly kicking her back,"Wake up, Thea" he called, when that didn't work he retreated to his bedside table where a glass of water lay.

He strode back over to Thea, upending the glass on her head. She shot up like a rocket, her head now dripping wet. "What was that for?" she groaned as looked up at her smirking assailant.

"Get up" repeated Five, "We're needed in the kitchen" He disappeared in a flash, leaving Thea to haul herself upright and make her way downstairs.

"It's just like bootcamp, all over again" she muttered to herself stretching her sore back as she did so, trying to get rid of the twinge of pain. She hoped it was just from the uncomfortable sleeping position.

* * *

"Here we go. This'll fix ya" cooed Klaus as he poured Luthor, himself and Ben a cup of coffee. Five appeared in a flash taking Luthor's original cup of coffee before sitting down next to him and Thea was currently in the fridge grabbing an orange juice, "Nice, okay"

"Jesus! Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee around here?" asked Five as he placed the cup back on the table in disgust. Thea joined them at the table, sitting opposite Five and Luthor with her orange juice and the bottle of aspirin.

"Can we get started please?" grunted Luthor, cradling his aching head in his hands as Thea swallowed a couple of aspirin pills dry before sipping on her orange juice. She tried to ignore the concerned look Five was giving her.

"Anyone seen any of the others? Diego? Alison? No?" questioned Klaus as he remained standing, flitting around the kitchen as he did so, "All right then, this is the closest thing to **a quorum**...that we're gonna get" he banged a spatula repeatedly against the table, aggravating Luthor's already pounding head.

"All right, now listening up! There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out"

"This is a bad idea" warned Ben from where he sat in front of Klaus, with his arms crossed.

"Yeah..." sighed Klaus, trailing off.

"Klaus?" prompted Luthor.

"I conjured Dad last night" revealed Klaus. Luthor raised his head from his hands and Five sat forwards in his chair, the two sharing a glance before turning back to Klaus. Five retook the coffee he had rejected, he was probably going to need it.

"I thought you said you hadn't conjured anyone in years" replied Luthor.

"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm sober. Ta-da!" Klaus cheered weakly, "I got clean, yesterday, to talk to someone special and then ended up having this...conversation with dear old Daddy himself"

"...Has anyone got some aspirin?" asked Luthor, finally reaching the end of his rope.

"Here" grunted Thea as she passed the bottle over to Luthor, before falling back in her chair with a yawn.

"Hey, hey, hey. This is serious, guys, all right?" protested Klaus, "This really happened, I swear"

"Alright, I'll play" Five piped up, "What did the old man have to say?"

"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life. Yada, yada, yada. No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because...he killed himself"

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus" dismissed Luthor as he stood up.

"I'm telling you the truth, Luthor. I'm telling you the truth"

"Why'd he do it then?" asked Five in disbelief.

"He said it was the only way to get us all home again"

"No, Dad wouldn't just kill himself" protested Luthor.

"You said it yourself. He was depressed" Five reminded him, "Holed up in his office all day and night"

"No there weren't any signs. Suicidal people exhibits certain tendencies, strange behaviours" he tried.

"Like sending someone to the moon for no reason?" Thea tacked on, still seated in her chair, she received a glare from Luthor for that comment.

"I swear to God, Klaus, if you're lying..."

"I'm not. I'm not"

"Master Klaus is correct" interjected Pogo, shuffling into the room as everyone turned to face him, "Regretfully...I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan"

"What?" whispered Luthor disbelief evident on his face.

"So did Grace" continued Pogo, "It was a difficult choice for both of us. More difficult than you could ever know...Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night"

"Sick bastard" Five muttered, unable to look at Pogo.

"So the security tape we saw...?" asked Luthor.

"It was meant to further the murder mystery. Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together...would reignite your desire to be a team again" replied Pogo.

"And to what end?" asked Five

"To save the world, of course"

"Ha!, all right" Klaus gave a breathy laugh.

"First the moon mission and now this...You watched me search for answers and said nothing. Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?" accused Luthor.

"Hey, calm down Luthor-!" said Klaus.

"No, I won't calm down. We've been lied to by the one person in this family we all trusted"

"It was your father's dying wish. Master Luthor. I...I had no choice"

"...There's always a choice"

There was a beat of silence as everyone in the room let the words sink in, no one ever really looking at one another. "Huh" mumbled Thea, fiddling with her pendant as she thought.

"What?" demanded Luthor from where he stood by the doorway, ready to leave.

"Nothing...It's just with the way he drank, I thought he would of kicked the bucket years ago"

"What do you mean?"

"...Look Luthor" Thea sighed as she sat upright in her seat and placed her hands on the table, the attention now solely on her, "I _know_ you keep seeing your father through rose-tinted lenses. Gods know most children do. But Reginald was a depressed, abusive, bitter old man who only ever emerged from his study to drink"

"Miss Thea...!" warned Pogo, trying to cut her off.

"You know it's true. You know that better than anyone, Pogo"

Silence followed her words as Luthor stormed out of the room, Pogo shuffling out behind him. "...I gotta think" Five sighed, pulling his head from his hands as he disappeared in a flash. Thea left too, dropping her glass in the sink as she went, leaving Klaus in the kitchen by himself.

"Well, that went well" muttered Ben.


	27. It's a Man's World

Alison approached the crime scene having returned from the Jenkins' cabin after not much had seen a violin case sitting in the armchair, so she knew at least she was in the right place. It was a quaint little town from what she had seen, she could see why someone would want to holiday out here. It was peaceful.

The sound of the police sirens wailing brought her back to her to the situation at hand. Striding forward, she pulled the familiar blue and white woollen scarf hanging from the lamp post. "Vanya" Alison breathed as hugged the scarf to her before making her way over to the sheriff milling around behind the police tape.

"Hey, pardon me" called the sheriff as he watched her duck under the police tape.

"Hey" replied Alison. having being caught.

"I gotta ask you to stay behind the lines. We had an accident here last night" he explained.

"A-What kind of accident?" she asked.

"Ma'am. The line, please"

"Okay. Yes, sorry" she replied as she ducked back under the police tape.

"Got a lot of stuff on the ground, okay? To be wary of"

"What happened?"

"We're trying to figure that out. As soon as we do, you'll be able to read it in the newspaper with everybody else. So, have a nice day"

"Look Officer, if there is any way…" trailed Alison as she took her sunglasses off.

"Holy shit!" cursed the officer as he realised who she was, starstruck, "You're Alison Hargreeves? I saw you on TV two nights ago in that Sandra Bullock movie about underpaid teacher that rob a bank"

"Yeah, that's the one" chuckled Alison.

"Oh! Wow, hey. If I'm being honest, my wife and I, we prefer the romantic comedies"

"Oh"

"The _Love on Loan_ trilogy…We can't get enough"

_"Copy, Cheedar?"_ came the voice over the handheld radio.

"Yeah, what do you got, Fred?"

_"Hospital called. Perp from last nigh just regained consciousness"_

"Copy, I'll be right over…Alison freaking Hargreeves. My wife just won't believe it. Anyway, I-I…gotta go"

"Actually, that's…why I'm here" started Alison, grasping onto the prompt that the officer had unwittingly given her, "I'm-I'm researching a role. A law enforcement role"

"In Jackpine cove? We haven't had a murder here in years"

"Oh, uh…it's about, um…a small-town cop who takes down a drug cartel. In fact, maybe I could tag along while you conduct some offical police business? I promise…I won't get in the way. I just…I think you could really um, help me develop my character. If I could live a day in the life, you know"

"Day in the life, huh?" mused Officer Cheddar, "…Eh, come on"

* * *

Klaus lay in his bed, struggling with the yarn in his hands as he tried to pick up the stitch once more. It just wasn't working, it just kept unravelling. How ironic. He threw his hands up in frustration when the yarn became tangled around his fingers. Five strode through his door, now dressed in the Umbrella Academy uniform.

"Hey. Get up. We're going" Five ordered.

"Where?" asked Klaus.

"To save the world"

"Oh, is that all? Great"

"So, Pogo said Dad killed himself to get us all back together, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So it got me thinking. I had to jump to the future to figure out when it happened, but Dad, he can't time travel. So how'd the crazy bastard actually know to kill himself a week before the end of the world?" Five wondered aloud as he paced back and forth.

"Well, you know…" began Klaus.

"Don't answer. That was purely rhetorical. Truth is, our whole lives, he's been telling us we'd save the world from an impending apocalypse"

"Yeah, but I always thought he just said that to scare us into doing the dishes" replied Klaus as he pulled on his shoes and a shirt.

"Me too. But what if the old man really knew it was going to happen?"

"Yeah, but knew how?"

"No idea. But the fact remains, his fakakta plan worked. We all came home. We're here, we might as well save the world"

"Oh yeah? What, like, the two of us?"

"Uh, well, ideally, no, but…gotta work with what I've got" ended Five as the two walked down the hallway, only to be met by Diego who hurried into his room, quickly grabbing his knife harness.

"Where have you been?" asked Five.

"Jail" replied Diego, "Long story. Where's Luthor?"

"Haven't seen him since breakfast"

"Yeah. Two days until the world ends, he picks a great time to drop off the grid" commented Klaus.

"Shit. What about Thea?"

"Uh, up in her room, I think. Why?"

"Alison is in danger"

* * *

Thea lay still in her PJs on her bedroom floor, head pillowed in her arms and staring around her at her illuminated room. The xitharis stone charged with her lumen sat next to her, being used as a pedestal for the Lorien planetary glass orb.

She lost herself to her memories as she watched the stars dance before her eyes. Like she had said at breakfast, it came as a surprise (at least to her) that Reginald had killed himself. But not all that unexpected; and she would be lying if she said, she wasn't a little relieved that he was truly gone. The guy was a complete and utter bastard.

Thea shifted slightly as a small twinge of pain hit her back. Her t-shirt rose a little, exposing part of her stomach as she heaved a sigh. She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. Maybe she just had to click her back?

A knock sounded at her door, pulling her attention from her thoughts and the illuminated room. She rolled her head towards the door where it swung inwards revealing Diego, Klaus and Five standing in the doorway.

"Hm?" she asked looking at the trio standing there.

"Come on, get up. We gotta go" ordered Five as the other two stared at the colourful room before them.

"Where? What's going on?"

"Alison's in trouble"

"…Alright" she replied as she sat up and put away the orbs and stones back into her chest, she paused for a moment before grabbing the diamond-edged dagger, clutching the sheathed knife in her teeth as she hid the box away underneath the singing floorboard under her mattress.

Next, she swapped out her PJ pants for a pair of cut off jeans, tucking her t-shirt into the waistband. Finally she grabbed her worn pair of Converse, hopping slightly as she slipped each one on, her feet sliding easily into the already laced shoes. Tucking the dagger up her sleeve, where she clipped the leather strap to her forearm, she made her way towards the brothers.

"Come on, let's go"

"Great, now we just need Luthor"

* * *

Luthor sat slumped over a table in the middle of the pub, his hulking form dwarfing the table as he nursed a drink. Everything from the last few days seemed to finally hit him all at once, making him feel like he had finally fallen off the wagon. Maybe his father wasn't the man he always thought him to be.

His sullen musings were suddenly cut off as the door to the pub swung inwards, revealing three of his brothers and Thea. They looked around the room, seemingly searching for someone. Probably him. He turned back to his drink.

"Trying a little hair of the dog, are we? Hm?" taunted Klaus as he, Diego, Five and Thea wove their way over to him.

"Leave me alone" Luthor sulked.

"Give us a minute" said Diego as he sat down at the table, opposite Luthor.

"Okay, come on. Maybe they'll brood each other to death" commented Klaus, pulling Five and Thea off to the side.

"Look, Dad was wrong to lie to you. To all of us" started Diego.

"Look, I did my time, alright? Four years up there, watching and waiting because he said the world needed me. Four years of nothing but soy paste and processed air because I was naive enough to believe that dads don't lie to their kids. But guess what? The joke's on me. I'm done. With all of it. With him. With you. With this family. You wanna save the world? Go right ahead. I'm fine to sit right here and get my…buzz on"

"You want to turn your back on me? The guys? That's fine. But Alison deserves better than that"

"Alison? What are you talking about?"

"Well, we got a hold of Harold Jenkins' police file. Turns out Vanya's boyfriend is a convicted murderer. Who would've seen that coming? A little hard to trust someone who wears corduroy"

"Wait…so where's Alison now?"

"She decided to go after Harold Jenkins. Alone"

"…You should have** led with that!** Jesus Christ" Luthor blurted as he launched from the table, thundering towards the door with Diego, Klaus, Five and Thea close on his heels. The door didn't really stand a chance.


	28. I'm So Sorry

"Mr Luntz? Mr Luntz, can you hear me?" Officer Cheddar asked the man in the hospital bed.

"Who, um…who are you?" groaned Luntz.

"I'm Sergeant Cheddar, and this is…This is my…associate. We just have a couple of questions for you"

"Am I in trouble?"

"No trouble, nothing like that. I just…I wanted to ask you about the accident in the Bearskin Tavern parking lot last night"

"…You're a cop. You've gotta protect me no matter what, right?"

"It's my sworn duty"

"It was no accident"

"What do you mean?"

"This guy…hired us to start a fight. He wanted us to rough him up in front of his girlfriend. He paid real good, up front. We got drunk. Took it a little too far. Started to hassle the girl, too and then all hell broke loose"

"They guy who paid you, what did he look like?" asked Alison, gripping onto the end of the hospital bed, "Brown hair, light scruff, light build?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's him"

"Well that's a…a really good guess" added Cheddar.

"Is this the girlfriend?" Alison persisted, pulling out a picture of Vanya and showing it to Luntz, despite Cheddar's protests as he dragged her out behind the curtain for a little bit of privacy. "I'm sorry for misleading you" apologised Alison.

"I believe the word is 'lying" corrected Cheddar, hands on his hips.

"I'm sorry I lied" Alison tried as she showed Cheddar the picture of Vanya, "But I didn't know how else to get answers. This is my sister and I think the guy that put him in the hospital, was her. I have to find her"

"I could get fired for bringing you down here with me"

"Please. I think she's in trouble. I need your help"

Cheddar paused for a moment before pulling the curtains back again, "Answer the lady's question. Is this the girlfriend?"

"Sorry, but the doctor's ordered more tests" interrupted the nurse, "You're gonna have to ask him questions later"

* * *

Vanya stood on the porch playing her violin, harmonising with the sounds of the forest around her. Coming to the end of the song, she turned and walked back inside the cabin where Leonard had been lounging around.

"Hey, I'm feeling kinda hungry. Did you throw away my sandwich?" she asked as she walked inside the cabin, to find it empty, "Leonard?" The door slammed shut in the wind, making her jump at the noise.

"Leonard?" she called again as she ran around the house trying to find him, "Leonard? Leonard!" She came to a stop in the living room as she caught her reflection in the small mirror on the mantel piece. The memory washed over her.

_**A young Vanya stood in the elevator next to Reginald as it travelled towards the basement level. "Where are we?" asked Vanya.**_

_**"I've made a secret place just for you" explained Reginald with his hand on her shoulder. It was less of a comfort and more so that she couldn't run away, "None of your siblings get to play here. Would you like to see it?"**_

_**Vanya followed Reginald down the tunnelled hallway. "Following the events of the previous weeks, we're going to try something new, Number Seven"**_

_**"It was an accident" excused Vanya.**_

_**"I understand. You need to remain in a controlled environment" stated Reginald as he pulled open the large steel doors. Inside, Pogo stood next to a large vault door with a sullen and downcast expression on his face, ready to open the door at his master's instruction.**_

_**"More research is required" continued Reginald, walking Vanya ever closer to the prison beyond the door, "To determine whether your behaviour can be regulated"**_

_**"I'm scared" Vanya whimpered as she saw the dark cramped room before her. Reginald merely pushed inside and Pogo locked her in. Reginald paused for a moment, looking at her one last time before he returned to the elevator at the end of the hall, leaving Vanya locked away. Alone, in the dark.**_

"Leonard? Leonard!" Vanya called, beginning to hyperventilate as she came back from her memories. Hearing no answer, she turned to the violin sitting in the armchair. Her safety mechanism. Picking it up, she began to play, loosing herself and her worries in the sound.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Alison stood out in the corridor alongside Cheddar as they waited for the okay to go back and question Luntz. "Hey, Dale?" called the nurse as she strode up to meet them.

"Yup?" called Cheddar as he turned to face the incoming nurse.

"Have you seen Mr Luntz?"

"No, why?"

"I took him to get an x-ray, and then he disappeared"

"We…You better let security know. I'll call it in"

"Yeah" replied the nurse as she turned to leave, only to be caught by Alison before she did so.

"Wait! One more thing, do you recognise this woman?" Alison asked as she showed the nurse the picture of Vanya.

"Mm. She left with Mr Peabody this morning" replied the nurse before she returned to her duties.

"Wait, this morning? They must've been here when I stopped by the cabin this morning"

"Yeah" agreed Cheddar.

"Maybe they went back there. I'm gonna go get my sister"

"Whoa! Hold on! We got a missing vic, and this guy might be dangerous. I need you to stay here" instructed Cheddar before walking off down the hallway to continue with the investigation, "Alison freaking Hargreeves. Man, oh, man" he muttered to himself as he walked away. Alison waited until he was out of earshot before she left the hospital.

* * *

When Alison arrived back at the cabin, everything was violently swaying in the roaring wind, the sound of a violin drifting out of every crevice. "Vanya? Is that you?" called Alison as she cautiously made her way towards the front door.

"Vanya, there you are. What's going on?" asked Alison as she went inside. Vanya stopped playing at Alison's sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here?" asked Vanya.

"I came to find you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah"

"There's something…weird going on. What's going on? What's causing it?"

"…Me"

"What do you mean 'me'?"

"I mean…I made those things happen. With my powers. Turns out I've had them all this time. It's weird, huh?"

"It's in-it's incredible" gasped Alison.

"But…?"

"Ca-can we do this in the car?"

"Why?"

"…You're not gonna wanna hear it"

"Well, that's never stopped you before"

"Leonard Peabody? His real name is Harold Jenkins. Remember when I couldn't find _anything_ in the library on Leonard? It's because Leonard Peabody doesn't exist. Harold Jenkins does. He was in prison for 12 years. He murdered his father when he was 13"

"This is…insane. His dad was an engineer at the-"

"I have the police report in the car, Vanya. I can show you"

"I don't…I don't understand"

"Leonard, Harold, I-I know it doesn't make any sense, and I know it sounds crazy, but we were in his house. He has pictures of all of us with our eyes gouged out"

"Wh-what?!"

"I _promise_ I will tell you everything in the car, but it is not safe" pleaded Alison as she tried to drag Vanya out the door.

"No, stop!" sighed Vanya as she fell into the armchair.

"Look, um…I can't imagine how hard it is for you to hear this…how you feel right now, but I…I love you and I-I just I wanna be here for you, as your sister"

"There's just no way. I love him. This just doesn't make any sense. And this power…I-I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do" cried Vanya, head in her hands.

"…I understand now" whispered Alison, realisation hitting her like a train.

_**A young Vanya lay in the bed in that dark room, the days had blended together. It was so quiet in here. The only companionship she ever got was from Pogo or Mum when they brought her, her meals.**_

_**The vault door swung open with a screeching creak, illuminating the room in a jaundice glow. Sitting up, she saw Grace with her next meal, Dad, Pogo and Alison at the door. "Go on" urged Reginald as Mum came in the room and set the tray of food down on her bed.**_

_**"Who's hungry?" sang Grace, "I brought your favourite, grilled cheese" Vanya dug into the sandwiches with vigour.**_

"When we were four, Dad told us you were sick. You had to be isolated. We were so young. None of us knew to question it"

_**Grace poured out a pill into her hand before handing it and a glass of water to Vanya. "Now, you have to take your medicine like a good girl. It'll help calm your nerves" Reginald, Pogo and Alison watched on from the doorway as Vanya swallowed down the pill with practised ease.**_

_**"It's time, Number Three" instructed Reginald.**_

"But then he asked me to do something I never understood…until now"

_**A young Alison stepped up to Vanya's bedside. She spared a glance back at her father, trying to make sure that this is what she had to do. "Do it" Reginald ordered. Alison turned back to Vanya with a sigh and said "I heard a rumour…you think that you're just ordinary"**_

_**Vanya's eyes became glossed over as her sister's ability took hold, wiping her memory of her own powers.**_

"He made me an accomplice"

_"…You_ did this to me?" Vanya asked struck with overwhelming disbelief as she watched her sister struggle with the truth that she had hidden all her life.

"I…I-I didn't realise"

"You knew this whole time? That I had powers?!" Vanya leapt from the armchair, striding to the front of the room, violin in hand.

"No, no! I didn't really understand until I came today, until I saw it" protested Alison as she too, stood.

"Well, now it all makes sense. This is why you never wanted me around" Vanya's voice was thick with emotion as she turned to face her sister.

"What? No!"

"You couldn't risk me threatening your place in the house, your-your dominance"

"That is _not_ true!"

"You couldn't handle the face that Dad might find me special"

"You are special, with or without powers"

"Don't-don't say that!"

"We have a chance to start over"

"You destroyed my life!"

"Oh please, Vanya. Everything is out in the open. We can move on!"

"Oh, I'm moving on. But not with you, with Leonard"

"With Harold, you mean"

"With Leonard! The only person who has ever loved me for me…Look me in the eye and tell me you're not threatened now" The wind began to pick up as Vanya regained her confidence, staring down her sister.

"…I don't wanna argue with you" replied Alison looking anywhere, but Vanya.

"Then go!"

"Uh…I'm only trying to help you"

"I don't want your help!"

"Vanya, I love you!"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" The furniture had begun to shake, creaking and moaning by this point, the lights were swinging furiously and the wind howled. Aliso glanced around nervously, wary about what Vanya might do.

"Are you…are you okay?" asked Alison.

**"I SAID GO!"** Vanya screamed, her face full of rage. The lights above their heads burst, the glass shattering everywhere.

"Please don't make me do this" pleaded Alison, tears gathering in her eyes as she thought about what she would have to do, "I heard a rumour…" Before Alison could finish her sentence, Vanya swung her violin bow through the air. A sound wave flew from the bow, slashing Alison across the throat.

A look of shock crossed both the sisters' faces as Alison began to choke on her own blood. Suddenly regretting her action, Vanya leapt forward to catch Alison as the two sisters fell to the floor.

"No! No! Alison!" cried Vanya as she held her sister close, trying in vain to stop the blood pouring out of her neck.

"Vanya! Wait-" called Harold as he jerked open the cabin door to find his girlfriend on the floor, holding her dying sister in her arms. A faint grin spread across his face as he realised what had happened, ignoring Vanya's cries, "You did what you had to" he stated, completely calm.

"Vanya! Vanya! We have to go!" he called as he quickly shouldered their bags and the violin case.

"No, no!" Vanya gasped, she had begun to hyperventilate, "I can't just leave her!"

"We have to go **now!** Vanya, come on! Now!" he ordered, pulling Vanya up from the floor and away from her sister where she lay dying.

* * *

Klaus sat in the front seat with his legs pressed against his chest alongside a dozing Thea and Five who sat in the driver's seat of the Land Rover. Luthor and Diego sat squashed in the back seat. There was no talking, it's not like anyone had anything to say anyway. They had been driving towards the cabin for some time now, stopping only once at a gas station to refill and pee.

"Hey, can you go any faster?" Luthor asked Five for the umpteenth time, leaning over Thea's shoulder.

"Ask me again and I'll burn you with the cigarette lighter" replied Five, not even sparing Luthor a glance. Luthor fell back in his seat with a pout.

* * *

The quintet pulled up next Alison's car in the Jenkins' driveway, just as twilight was setting over the horizon. The brothers practically leapt from the car in their haste to get inside, Thea brought up the rear, grabbing the car keys as she did so.

Luthor kicked the door in and froze in his tracks when he saw what had happened. "Alison! No!" he cried as he fell to his knees next to her body, ignoring the blood that coated him as he cradled her body to him.

Klaus and Diego froze, looking over Luthor's shoulder as they too saw what had happened, tears pouring down their faces and hands cupped over mouths. Five came in next with Thea close behind; he stumbled to a stop, sparing a lost glance in Diego's direction, not sure if he cold believe what he was seeing.

Suddenly Thea's head snapped up and her gaze locked on Alison's weak form. "What?" demanded Five over the sound of his brothers' cries, as he watched Thea become enraptured by something.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she cried, tilting her to the side like a dog, "Can you hear that?"

"What? No"

It was faint, the sound. But it was there. A gentle la-dub, la-dub of a beating heart. "Get her in the car" she ordered.

"What?"

"Get her in the fucking car, now!"


	29. Changes

_**1993**_

_**A young Vanya sat alone at the breakfast table, a cold bowl of oatmeal sat in front of her and the kettle whistled on the stove. "Your brothers and sister have all finished their oatmeal and begun their training for the day" prompted the nanny, "Don't you want to join them, Number Seven?"**_

_**Vanya merely glared in response. There was no way she was touching that disgusting thing! No matter what Father said. "Is someone having a tough morning?" The nanny cooed, spoon still in hand, "You know what cheers me up, when I'm down? Singing"**_

_**The nanny stood up from the table singing 'L'Empereur, sa femme et la petit prince' She tried to dance the spoon of oatmeal closer to Vanya's closed mouth. She was thrown into the building blocks instead. She didn't rise.**_

_**"Number Seven!" scolded Reginald, coming into the room.**_

* * *

_**"Hi Number Seven. I'm your new nanny, Mrs Cornwallis" She was thrown down the stairs. She didn't rise.**_

_**"Number Seven!" scolded Reginald.**_

* * *

_**"Bonjour. I am Miss Stevenbaker and I am your new nanny" She was thrust out the window. She didn't rise.**_

_**"Number Seven!" scolded Reginald.**_

* * *

_**"Hello, Number Seven. My name is Grace. I'm your new nanny. Your father tells me you like oatmeal, but we need our breakfast to grow up big and strong, and you have to train with the others after you eat. Here, let me help you" She was tossed into the cabinet, falling to the floor with a thud.**_

_**Grace rose from the floor, eerily happy, even with her head on backwards. Her neck cracked as she popped it back into place, before making her way back over to Vanya, dipping a clean spoon into the oatmeal.**_

_**"Shall we try again? Better eat that oatmeal before it gets cold" Vanya had never devoured something so quick before, even picking the bowl up to slurp up the last of the contents.**_

* * *

Vanya sat in Harold's bathtub as he gently washed Alison's blood off of her. Vanya hardly reacted, still too shocked by what she had done. "Your family, they'll be coming for us soon" whispered Harold, seizing the chance he'd been given to plant the seed in Vanya's mind.

"It's okay. You don't have to worry. We're a team now. Take the fight to them"

"Why would they be coming for me?" Vanya asked, her legs still pulled up to her chest.

"Vanya…you killed Alison" he chuckled.

"No, I…I lost control. Everything just happened so fast"

"I know. I know. It's not your fault. You were protecting yourself. Bur that's not how they'll see it"

"No. I'll-I'll…I'll explain it to them. Uh, I-I just need to get to them and I-I need to explain it to them"

"They wanna hurt you. I'm the only one on your side who understands…just how special…you truly are. I knew that the first time I met you. I see it now as I look at your face. But they don't see it. They never have. They never will…Say it"

"…I can't"

"Say it for me"

"…I'm special"

"Got it. Say it again"

"I'm special"

"Now, that wasn't so hard"

* * *

The next few moments were a blur, there had been a squabble over who got to ride with Alison in the car they had arrived in and who would take Alison's car back to the house. In the end, Thea had ordered Luthor and Diego to take Alison's car while she drove Klaus, Alison and Five back in theirs.

"Uh…Thea?" called Klaus, his voice thick with emotion from where he sat in the back seat holding a bandage to Alison's neck.

"Yeah?" she asked glancing in the rearview mirror at the two as they sped down the highway. Five sat next to her in the passenger's seat, his white knuckle grip on the seatbelt, the only sign of his distress.

"Her pulse is getting weaker" Klaus cried, snot and tears mixing with the blood on his hands.

"Shit" cursed Thea, stepping harder on the accelerator. Now was probably not the best time to tell them they were also running low on gas. Suddenly an idea came to mind, she was already high on adrenaline.

The barely kept-at-bay panic-fuelled adrenaline that she had been feeling coupled with the searing pain running down her back, made for an interesting emotional cocktail. One she was sure she could use to her advantage.

Sparing a glance at the rapidly fading Alison in the backseat and another at the car behind them, Thea gripped tighter to the steering wheel. "I've got an idea" she stated to the other passengers.

"What are you gonna do?" Five asked giving her an odd look.

"You might want to hold onto something…Gods! This better work!" she muttered, slamming on the accelerator as the Land Rover flickered once, twice and then disappeared.

* * *

"What the hell?!" demanded Diego as the car they had been following suddenly disappeared, flickering back into existence a few miles in front of where it had been. He slammed on the accelerator, forcing Alison's car to follow the flickering Land Rover at high speed back to the Hargreeves' childhood home.

* * *

"Everyone, okay?" breathed Thea as she unlatched her hands from the steering wheel, ignoring the blood dripping from her nose. She received several grunts and groans in response, "How is she, Klaus?"

"Not good. I don't think she's breathing" he replied.

"Go get Grace. Meet us in the infirmary" she ordered Five, turning to him just as he flashed out of the vehicle. Luthor and Diego pulled up behind them just as Klaus and Thea quickly rushed Alison in after Five, meeting Grace and Pogo in the infirmary.

"Quick! Get her on the gurney!" ordered Grace, "Thea put pressure on the wound. Try and take as much of the pain as you can" Thea quickly stepped up next to Five, and placed her hands around Alison's neck, applying as much pressure as she could to the wound, blood spilling through her fingers.

She took a deep breath before familiar black pulsing veins began to appear on her arms and neck. Thea let out a pained groan at the feedback from Alison as she seemed to drift off in a pained trance. "What-what are you doing?!" Luthor demanded, worry and accusation thick in his voice.

"We don't the extent of the damage yet, so we can't give her any morphine. Until then, Thea will will dull the pain" replied Grace as she busied herself with scanning the body of her surrogate daughter. The scan complete, she stepped back and explained to the boys what was going on

"She suffered a severe laceration to her larynx. One of you will need to give blood"

"I will!" chorused the brothers.

"No, I'm doing it" said Luthor.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, dear boy" interrupted Pogo, "Your blood is more compatible with mine"

"Hey, don't sweat it! I-I got this big guy!" Stuttered Klaus as he came round to Grace, patting his arm as he did so, "I-I love needles"

"Master Klaus, your blood is…How shall I say this? Too polluted"

"Move. I'll do it" stated Diego as he took Klaus' place next to Grace. He rolled up his sleeve, prepared to be injected, until he saw the needle. At which point, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell to the floor with a whimper.

"Stick him" ordered Pogo.

* * *

After Alison had been declared stable, Thea had disconnected herself from Alison's neck, the feeling of whiplash hitting her hard as she suddenly lost the feeling of pain she had been experiencing. She had stumbled into Five, who had barely caught her, helping her stand upright as she re-caught her bearings.

Now she stood in the bathroom, clutching the porcelain sink in a white-knuckled grip. She had already taken care of her bloody nose, evident by the small pile of bloody tissues on the floor next to her. Her t-shirt and bra had been tossed aside, leaving her in only her jeans and fuzzy socks with her scarred back tingling in the cool air.

She clenched her eyes shut tight as she let out a breath through her teeth, hissing at the pain. Flashes of a violent fight could be seen flying across her vision when she closed her eyes. Her brother, Five, was caught in the middle once more. This time however, he seemed to be fighting Eight. And loosing.

She could feel the unbridled rage flowing through the transfer. Eight had always been rather close to Seven. Thea leant forward, her forehead resting against the cool glass of the mirror as more images flew behind her eyes. The flash of fists, a shout of rage.

She breathed deeply, fighting to stay conscious. The smell of burning flesh permeated through the air. There was so much pain. It was hardly bearable. Shame flowed through the transfer next, followed by regret. Five hadn't wanted to kill Seven, but Eight wasn't listening.

And then suddenly she was leaning further forward, gasping for air as she felt the life leave her brother. The scar on her lower back still burning slightly as he slipped away. His last sight that of his sister, full of rage and him, full of regret.

Thea stumbled, clutching tighter onto the sink to keep her balance. Tears and snot poured down her face as she stared at herself in the mirror as lost her brother. She looked like shit. Tears and snot mixing together as they ran down her face, her eyes rimmed red from crying.

Her bottom lip had started bleeding from where she had bitten down hard, trying to quieten her wails. Turning around, her fingers grazed the newest scar, flinching at the sting and crying harder. Yes her brother had been a real piece of work and yes he had gotten in with the wrong crowd and yes he had killed Seven. But he was still her brother.

Heaving a wobbly sigh, she grabbed the roll of gauze & burn salve from medicine cabinet and set to work bandaging herself up.


	30. Another One Bites the Dust

_**A Few Hours Later**_

"The bastard that nearly killed out sister's still out there, with Vanya" stated Diego as he paced up and down the living room, "We need to go after her"

"Vanya is not important" replied Five, although it pained him to do so.

"Hey, that's your sister. A little heartless even for you, Five"

"I'm not saying I don't care about her, but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the other seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority"

"Alright, let's go" agreed Thea from where she stood with her arms crossed off to the side of the couches.

"You guys count me out" Klaus spoke up from his seat on the couch where he had drawn his legs up to his chest, "I mean, you know, no offence or whatever its just…I kind of feel like this is a whole lot of pressure for newly-sober me, so…"

"It could be a lot of pressure for newly-dead you too" replied Thea.

"You're coming" reiterated Diego as Five stared at him with disbelief at his gall.

"No, no, no. I mean, I think we can all agree that my power's…I mean it's pretty much useless. I'd just be holding you guys back"

"Klaus. Get up" demanded Five.

"You can't make me" Diego merely threw a dagger at him, where it landed between the couch cushions, centimetres from his crotch.

"Oh, then again a little exercise couldn't hurt" Klaus sighed, "Yeah, I'll get my shoes"

* * *

Vanya stood in the kitchen, splashing water on her face as she tried to rid herself of the memory of killing Alison. It didn't do much. She knocked Harold's messenger bag onto the floor as she reached for the towel to dry her hands.

"Shit" she breathed as she knelt down to pick everything up. An old red leather-bound book caught her attention amongst the other items in the bag; pulling it out, she saw the familiar initials engraved in gold on the front cover.

Flipping the book open, she paused at what she had found. They were notes on her and her siblings, all written in her father's handwriting. "Oh God" she breathed as the words 'dangerous' and 'uncontrollable' jumped off the page.

"Vanya? Let's get going…!" called Harold as he tramped down the stairs towards the front door, a bag in hand. There was no reply from Vanya, just her standing in the living room with her father's journal in her hands, "Vanya, I can explain…"

"You've been manipulating me all this time?" questioned Vanya.

"No, that's not true. I'm only trying to protect you"

"From who?"

"From your family. They're the ones trying to hurt you. Vanya, it's all there in that journal. Your father…was afraid of you. That's why he put you on those pills. It wasn't to help you, it was to hold you back" explained Harold as he set the bag down and stepped closer to Vanya, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"He didn't trust that you were strong enough to control your powers. But I've never been afraid of you. I embraced you. I'm the only one who ever accepted you for who you really are. Your brothers and your sister, they went along with him every step of the way"

"…Who is Harold Jenkins?"

"…He's…someone like us" swallowed Harold, "A _lonely_ boy. An outsider whose family was cruel to him. All he ever wanted was to be heard, to be loved"

"Alison was right. You're sick!"

"I'm not the one who tried to kill you"

"I need to go" rushed Vanya as she made to push passed him, but he caught her in his arms.

"What have _they_ ever done for you? Hm? _I'm_ the reason that you got first chair!"

"…I auditioned. I earned the spot"

"You think that the first chair went missing all by herself?" he chuckled, the journal now in his hands.

"…What did you do?"

"I did this for you"

"Stay away from me!"

"Vanya, we are in danger. We're in danger. Your family, they've seen you in action and they know what you're capable of. They will come for us"

"No! They'll listen to me!"

"No! They never will! They want you to feel small! But they are the small ones, next to you. Compared to them, you are a God! You just needed your eyes opened to see what they really are. I gave that to you. So…let's finished what we started. Vanya, you need me"

"What I _need_ is my family. I didn't…I didn't mean to kill Alison…And I love her. And I love them"

"…Your father was right. Not strong enough" Harold muttered as he walked towards the kitchen, "He knew it and now I know it. You're weak!" He slapped his palm against the journal.

"Stop it"

"You're pathetic" Another slap.

"Please don't" The power radiating from Vanya began to pick up, furniture rattling in the rooms around the pair.

"Look at you. You're nothing" Slap.

"No!"

"You're just ordinary!" Slap.

"STOP IT!" Vanya cradled her head in her hands, the power increasing.

"Less than ordinary!" Slap.

"STOP IT!" Lights swung violently.

"You are not special!" Slap.

"STOP IT!"

"Ordinary, ordinary. Pathetic. Nothing!" Slap.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Vanya raised her head from her hands, standing up straight as Harold began to gasp and choke. She lifted her chin, raising Harold up above the ground.

"No. No, not to me, Vanya. Please" he tried to plead, the cutlery and furniture in the room behind him swirling around in a vortex. Dropping her chin, all matter of items from the vortex launched forward and embedded themselves in Harold; before he was tossed back into the table. Dead.

Vanya felt nothing.

* * *

"It's not exactly what I was expecting" mumbled Klaus as he, Five, Diego and Thea stared at the gruesome corpse of Harold Jenkins. His body resembling a porcupine with all the tools sticking out of his abdomen.

"That's the understatement of the year" replied Five.

"No sign of Vanya"

"You don't think she could of done this, do you?" asked Thea.

"How could she?" replied Diego.

"I dunno"

"Let's get out of here before the cops come"

"In a minute" sighed Five as he knelt down next to the corpse, pulling the glass eye out of his pocket as he did so. Diego covered his mouth as Five peeled the bandage off of the corpse's eye, revealing the empty socket.

"Come on, Five. What are you doing?" Diego asked his question muffled by the hand over his mouth.

"Ugh, wow" muttered Klaus as Diego retched slightly watching Five shove the glass eye into the man's head.

"Same eye colour, same pupil size. Guys this is it. The eye I've been carrying around for decades, it-it's found it's rightful home" deduced Five, excitement clear in his voice. Thea scrunched her nose up in disgust as she watched Five pull the eye back out with a squelch.

"We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse" added Diego.

"Yay!…Let's go" cheered Klaus, only stopped by Diego grabbing him by his collar and yanking him back around.

"No, no. Wait, wait. it can't be this easy" mused Five as he showed the note to the trio, gesturing to the body on the floor, "Look this is the note that I got from the Commission. The one that says, _'Protect Harold Jenkins'_ aka Leonard Peabody"

"Yeah?"

"But who killed him? Who did this?"

"I have a crazy idea. Crazy, but why don't we find Vanya…and ask her what happened?" Five teleported away, not bothering to hear the rest of the sentence.

"If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed back to the academy" said Diego.

* * *

Lime green margarita mix was split between two glasses, a blue cocktail umbrella in each glass as a jazz tune crackled through the radio. One for Five and one for Delores. "Well, do you think we really did it?" Five asked Delores as he sipped his drink, "Think we actually stopped the apocalypse?"

"…"

"Now what?"

"…"

"I don't know, I'm open to suggestions"

A rapid knock came at the front door, catching his attention. "Eh, I'll get it" Five muttered as he sipped on his drink. Upon opening the door, he found Hazel on the front porch, a pistol in his hand.

"Hey, old-timer"

"Do you have my sister? And…if not, do you a margarita? Come on" replied Five, inviting his ex-colleague inside., "You're here to kill me?" Five asked sitting back down at the bar.

"Oh, shit sorry. Old habits. Well, I can understand why you might feel that way, y'know…" replied Hazel as he stuffed the pistol back in his waistband.

"Well, you attack our house. Tried to kill my family and kidnapped my brother and housekeeper"

"Well, there's not so much I can do about the past. But I'm not the only killer in this room. You got your own bloody history, pal. Speaking of which, that job you had in Calhoun, that shit's legendary. Can't believe I'm here talking to you at all…"

"Hazel, why are you here?"

"Well, y'know, I'm-" he was suddenly cut off by Diego who had snuck up behind him, kicking him to the floor, before beating the crap out of him.

"Diego, stop!" called Five. He was ignored, "Y'know before you kill him, you might wanna hear what he has to say"

"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Patch" threatened Diego as he went after Hazel once more.

"Or don't. See how that goes" Five sighed, leaning back and watching the show. Hazel received a knife to the thigh, which he quickly pulled out after pushing Diego away from him, "Oh! That's gotta hurt" winced Five.

Hazel grabbed Diego in a hold, headbutting him a couple of times before Diego opened wide and bit down hard on Hazel's ear. Five put down his drink, quickly flashing over to the two squabbling men and brought a glass plate down on Diego's head. It shattered on impact as Diego dropped unconscious to the floor.

"I draw the line at biting" explained Five, walking back over to the bar; "Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick, before he comes around"

"I left my partner, quit the Commission, came to volunteer"

"For what?"

"To help stop the apocalypse"

"Hm"

"What on earth could be so funny to you right now?"

"Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?"

"…Let's just say I have a vested interest in a doughnut shop"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but you're a day late and a dollar short. The fact hat you're here right now means, without a shadow of a doubt, that the apocalypse is over"

"Really? How do you know?"

"The mark is dead. Found him this morning. You were the last unknown left in the equation"

"Shit. Really?"

"Mm-hm. And if you're out, then hell-rider ain't riding"

"Oh!…Alright!…So now what?" asked Hazel as he took a swig from the blender.

"You know, to be honest, I don't know. I've been chasing this thing for so long, I…I never really thought about the day after…I don't know, what about you?"

"I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. You should do the same"

"That's easier said than done"

"It doesn't have to be hard. I mean, think about it like this. If you never time travelled, you never got caught up with the Handler, what would of happened?"

"…I guess I would have grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child like everybody else around here"

"Well, there you go. Now you can grow up. Good luck"

"Hazel. One more thing before you go"

"Shoot"

"Which one of you was the trigger man for Detective Patch?"

"Trigger woman"

"Huh. That's too bad. That gun could've cleared my brother's name"

"Well, today's your lucky day, amigo. Take 'em both" sighed Hazel as he pulled both guns from his waistband and set them on the bar top, "I'm done with this life" He stated as he walked out the door.

Thea chose that moment to walk downstairs, a tray full of clean glasses in her hands. She paused to look at Diego on the floor, before continuing over to the bar. "I'm not cleaning that up"

"Margarita?" Five chuckled.

"Please"


	31. Control

_You have three new voice messages. First message:_ "Vanya this is Mrs Kowalski, Mr Puddles is missing again. If you see him, will you call me? Thanks"

_Next message:_ "Vanya, this is Peter from the Icarus Theatre. Just wanted to remind you we've left the concert tickets you've asked for at the box office. Your guests can pick them up at any time"

_Next message:_ "Hey, Vanya, it's me. I just wanted to...Things have gotten so messed up. All I ever wanted was to be a good sister to you. Guess I pretty much failed at that...But you need to call me, okay? I love you, sis"

"I'm sorry!" wailed Vanya as she sat on her couch, clutching the seemingly bloody violin bow in her hands. She missed her sister so much.

* * *

Alison woke with a gasp and a whimper, catching Luthor's attention. "Alison? Oh…I'm here. I'm here" whispered Luthor as he sat down next to the bed and clutched onto her hand. Alison let out several whimpers as she tried to talk, tears gathering at the pain.

"No, don't try to talk. Don't try to talk. It'll cause more damage okay? Alison, I'm so sorry I wasn't there…"

"…"

"It's okay" Alison waved her hand towards the notepad and pen on the surgery table, "Here" said Luthor handing the items to Alison who shakily wrote down a few words, showing them to Luthor.

Vanya

"Uh, we don't know where she is"

Powers

"Powers? Uh…I don't understand"

"I do" Pogo spoke softly as he shuffled into the room to check on the two, "It's time for the last of your father's secrets to come to light"

* * *

Diego woke with a groan and a sighed curse, as he glanced around at his surroundings. "Good you're up. Ready for that drink now?" Five asked from where he sat at the bar, sipping at his margarita. Thea stood behind the bar, placing clean glasses on the shelf as she periodically sipped from her own drink and Delores still sat on the counter, watching everything.

Diego leapt from the floor as he remembered the past few moments, "Where is he?" Diego asked looking around the room, searching for Hazel.

"I let him go" replied Five.

"You what?"

"Now that the apocalypse is over, it's time for the fighting to stop…Hey, he didn't kill Patch. His partner Cha-Cha did"

"So what? They were both there that night"

"So was I. Does that mean I killed her too?" interjected Thea as she leant against the counter.

"What? No. That's different"

"Is it? This half of the partnership gave me both of their guns" Five continued, "Which will clear you, because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene. Hazel came here looking for a way out. He wanted a fresh start and he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So it's time to move on"

"Not a chance"

"…Suit yourself. I am curious though, your girlfriend, Patch. What did you like about her?" Five picked up Delores from the counter, cradling her close as he walked away, pausing by the doorway as he listened to Diego's response.

"A lot of things. Cute butt, nice legs"

"Anything a little more profound than that?" asked Five as Thea scoffed at the response.

"…She believed in people. No matter how much shit and filth she saw on the streets. She always saw the good inside"

"Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know that you're killing Hazel and Cha-Cha as a way to honour her memory"

* * *

Vanya cautiously walked in to the foyer of her childhood home, wary of what her siblings might actually think. The building seemed a lot colder and darker this time. "H-hello?" she called, her voice trembling in fear.

"Vanya" muttered Luthor standing on the balcony above her.

"Is Alison…?"

"She survived"

"…Thank God"

"What happened?" Luthor asked as he came to stop in front of Vanya's small trembling form.

"…We got in an argument and things got out of control…I didn't mean to hurt her. Please you have to believe me"

"I do"

"It was an accident and I was…I was angry, and…uh, it just happened. Could I see her?"

"She's resting now. Maybe later"

"Is it okay if I wait here for a bit?"

"Of course. This is your home" Luthor slowly raised his arms to Vanya, offering a hug to his sobbing sister.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she cried falling into her brother, clutching onto him as she sobbed, "I didn't mean it…I didn't mean…"

"I can see that, Vanya" replied Luthor as he squeezed his sister tighter and tighter, no longer comforting her.

"…You're hurting me" groaned Vanya, her response muffled by Luthor's hulking form squeezing her tight.

"I'm sorry too, Vanya" whispered Luthor as he continued to squeeze.

"Please…stop!" she groaned as the house around them began to shake and tremble, reacting to her emotions. The shaking eventually ceased as she slowly lost consciousness. Luthor picked up her limp form and took her downstairs, locking her away.

* * *

Vanya woke with a gasping groan as she leapt to her feet, seeing the familiar sound-proofed room she had spent the majority of her childhood in. "No! No, no, no!" she panicked spinning in a circle, before rushing towards the door, banging on the window as she pleaded with her siblings to let her go.

"You locked up your sister because you thought she had powers" stated Thea, standing next to Diego and Klaus, with Luthor standing at the rear of the room.

"No, I _know_ she does. Pogo told me" replied Luthor as Diego stepped closer to the door, placing his hand on the door, peering at his sister with a multitude of emotions flickered across their faces. "He's always know, and so did Dad"

"Why would they hide this from us?" Diego asked, "I mean, am I the only one that didn't know this place existed?"

"He h-hid so much from us" whispered Klaus.

"He hid it because he was afraid…of her" replied Luthor. Thea nibbled on her lower lip, worried about not only Vanya, but herself. If Luthor would lock up his own sister because he was afraid, what would he do to her?

"Oh that's ridiculous!" snapped Klaus.

"Is it? Dad's lied about everything else, why is this so far-fetched?"

"If you're right, then maybe she's the one who killed Peabody" suggested Diego.

"And cut Alison's throat"

"Whoa! No, let's…I jus-sorry, just, let's go back, alright? This is Vanya we're talking about. Our sister. The one who always cried when we stepped on ants as kids" cried Klaus.

"Yeah, I know. I know it's difficult to accept-"

"It's not difficult to accept, it's impossible to accept!"

"No, he's right. Look, we can't keep her locked up without proof" Diego backed up Klaus.

"Wh-what more proof do you need?"

"Why don't you just open the door and ask her?!"

"No, she's not going anywhere" snapped Luthor as he pulled Klaus back from the door. Thea moved back towards the back of the room, suddenly wary of Luthor and his motives. She watched his movements like a hawk as he thundered around the room.

"No, even if you're right, she needs our help, and we can't do that if she's locked in a cage"

"Yeah, and for all we know, she might be struggling with this new power. I mean. it must be scary. Terrifying, really, to discover that you can do something that you never thought you could do" Klaus wasn't so sure if he was talking about Vanya or himself anymore.

"Look, if what Pogo told me is even half true, then she is not just a danger to us" Alison chose that moment to emerge from the dark, stopping in the doorway and using the wall as a support.

"Alison, what are you doing down here? You should be in bed" Alison quickly jotted down a message on the pad in her hand, showing it to her siblings when she was done.

_Let her go._

"I can't do that. She hurt you"

_My fault._

"I'm sorry, but she's staying put…Just until we know what we're dealing with. She stays put" stated Luthor as he took the hits Alison swung at him, trying to get to her sister and set her free. There was no way Luthor was going to let that happen.

"Y'know you're not your father, Luthor" stated Thea as she paused at the door, looking back at the siblings before her, "So quit acting like it" She soon left, a disappointed look on her face. Klaus and Diego followed not too long after.

* * *

Luthor helped Alison over to her bed, trying to provide her some comfort as he tried once more to excuse his actions. Alison rebuffed Luthor's attempts at comfort, leaving him sulking in the chair by her bed.

* * *

Diego sat in the kitchen, picking at the plate of food Grace had given him. It consisted of smiley pancakes decorated with berries.

* * *

Klaus sat on his bedroom floor opposite Ben, playing patty cake as they tried to make physical contact like they had earlier that day.

* * *

Five strode down the aisle of the thrift store, the green sports bag slung over his shoulders. Making his way to mannequin display, Five knelt down and opened the sports bag to reveal Delores.

With a heavy heart, he pulled her out and placed her back on the display. "Hey" he whispered, "I bet it feels good to be back…amongst your friends. And it's okay, you can…say it. We always were an unlikely pair"

"…"

"This isn't easy for me either, Delores and I…I want you to know that I cherish every single minute I ever shared with you. All 23 and a half million of them. A lifetime…Now look at us. We're lucky enough, we get a second one"

"…"

"Yeah. You are right. I do have a lot of growing up to do. I'll never forget you, Delores" Five walked away a sullen expression upon his face. He pulled a sales assistant aside and asked if she could dress Delores in something with sequins, before he left, not looking back once.

* * *

Thea lay on her bedroom floor, here with her hands behind her head, thoughts swirling as she stared up at her illuminated room with tear-filled eyes. With the apocalypse over, she'd have to move now. The Mogs knew where she was, she just wished she didn't have to leave. She liked these friends.

* * *

Vanya sat curled up on the floor of the dark, soundless room. Her thoughts and fears whirled around her as she stared out the small slit of a window on the door, the only light coming from an old lamp hanging from the ceiling outside her prison. She had tried numerous times to break the door down. It wouldn't budge. Her cries tapered off as she saw her reflection transform into her younger self.

_"They're still afraid of us. Even after all these years. Afraid of our power"_

"You're not real"

_"We killed Leonard"_

"Because he lied to us"

_"Not about everything"_

"What are you talking about?"

_"You know. You've always known. Our brothers and sister, they're just like Dad, driven to keep us down. A muted voice, isolated from the group, never in the limelight, never the center of attention. It will never end. Not until we act"_

"But they're our family"

_"They fear you now. They're gonna keep you in here forever"_

"No"

_"Do you remember what that was like? Staring at these grey walls, hour after hour, day after day while they played together? Do you want to live like this for the rest of our lives?"_

"No, no…I can't breathe in here. I can't breathe in here"

_"Then do something about it. Embrace who we are"_

"I can't-"

_"Who we've been all along"_

Vanya turned to face the dark walls of her prison, her fear gone in an instant. She listened close to the only sound she could hear, the only sound that was always with her, the beating of her own heart.

A whistling filled the room as her power grew, swirling around her, before it exploded outwards ripping the wall from its hinges. The wall fell with a loud crash that echoed throughout the house. Vanya stepped out from her prison, eyes shining white, the house shook as she moved swirling around her, the eye of the storm.


	32. The White Violin

Vanya emanated power. The house shook as she strode out from the basement level. She was the eye of the storm, and oh Lord was she going to make them pay. They better watch out, chaos is coming.

* * *

Thea tumbled from her room, gripping onto the wall as she tried to regain her balance, joining the others in the hallway.

"Yo, what the hell is going on?" demanded Diego.

"Are those explosions coming f-" Thea asked.

"Vanya" replied Luthor.

"We need to get to safety outside the Academy. Go. Now!" instructed Pogo.

"Don't forget Mum!" called Luthor as he went to help Alison outside. Thea ran back into her room, ripping the singing floorboard off as she grabbed the Loric chests inside, shoving them into the tattered emergency backpack she swiped from her door, before racing back out into the hallway.

She would of crashed into Klaus (who was still standing in the hallway) if he hadn't grabbed her by the wrist and started to drag her, "Is now the good time to worry about jewellery?" Klaus demanded as they skidded around the corner.

"They're not jewellery boxes!" Thea replied as she stumbled yet again, trying to keep up with Klaus' long strides.

* * *

Destruction followed Vanya as she walked down the hallways, cracks splintered the walls and debris flew as room after room exploded. She paused in a room here and there as memories played like a movie before her eyes. First was Ben's room.

_**"To go on a mission, Vanya, you have to have a power" Ben stated as he and Klaus dressed for their next mission.**_

The bedroom exploded as Vanya moved on, riding her of her brothers. Next was Diego's room.

_**"Vanya! What do you want?!" Diego demanded as he sat on his bed polishing his knives.**_

The room turned to splinters as she moved to Alison's room.

_**"Just get out!" Alison yelled at her as Luthor leapt from the bed, terrified at being caught. They had clearly been about to kiss.**_

The room crumbled to dust.

* * *

"Mum!" called Diego as he met up with Klaus and Thea on the first floor mezzanine, "Where is she?"

"Grace!" Thea called instead, not having an answer for Diego.

"Mum! Mum!" the brothers chorused as they hurriedly searched for their mother, trying to dodge falling debris as they did so.

Unfortunately, a rather large piece of rubble fell, knocking the trio to the floor. Thea, adrenaline pumping through her system by this point, pushed herself up onto her elbows with a groan. Slowly she was able to crawl towards one of the standing pillars off to the side, which she used to help her come to a shaky stand. She stood, blinking furiously trying to focus on her feet as she checked herself over for any injuries. Thankfully, she hadn't been hit too badly.

Back on the floor beside her Klaus rolled over with a wheezing cough and a groan as he stared up at the cracked ceiling. Diego only stirred slightly when Klaus frantically shook his shoulder, trying to rouse him as a large chunk of the ceiling rained down upon them.

They would have been crashed if not for Ben who had forcefully dragged the two away from the debris with a yell. "Holy shit" Klaus breathed, staring up at Ben with shock and awe on his face as he realised what had happened.

"Come on. Come on, come on. Diego! Thea!" called Klaus as he quickly got to his feet, he slinging Diego's arm over his shoulder. Thea appeared on Diego's other side, slinging his other arm over her shoulders and they awkwardly made they're way out of the crumbling house.

* * *

The destruction came to a pause as Vanya wove through the endless hallways, coming to a stop at the south end of the living room. She watched the memory play out beneath the mantel piece.

_**"Dad?" A young Vanya asked as she saw her father and her siblings lined up in front of the mantel piece, readying themselves for their photo to be taken. Reginald stood in the middle of his children with Luthor, Five & Ben to his right and Alison, Diego & Klaus to his left.**_

_**"You forgot me" Vanya stated as her siblings refused to look her in the eye.**_

_**"I did not" replied Reginald, "No smiles, eyes ahead. Quickly, now"**_

_**"Dad! Dad! Dad!"**_

_**"No talking! Stand still"**_

The room resumed in its destruction, her anger represented in the broken glass cabinets and crumbling walls. So consumed by her anger, she didn't hear Pogo enter the room until he declared himself. "Miss Vanya! That's quite enough!" he scolded.

Vanya spun around, the destruction of the room around her pausing once more at the intrusion. Her eyes returned to their normal chocolate brown as she saw who was there. She stalked towards Pogo, much like a predator would their prey, stopping only a meter or so from Pogo. Even now, as he stared now the beast, he spoke softly and slumped over his cane. The perfect picture of a loving grandfather.

"Miss Vanya...I understand how upset you are" he started, trying to buy the remaining children time to escape, "But I can assure you...that _none_ of your siblings bear _any_ responsibility for what happened to you as a child"

"...Did you know?" she softly asked him.

"You father discovered...that you were capable of great things. Much like you brothers and sister. But your powers were...too great. He only wanted to protect you from yourself. As well as your siblings" Pogo's gaze drifted upwards to Luthor and Alison who were still trying to sneak out of the house.

"Did. You. Know?"

"...Yes, Miss Vanya. I knew"

Vanya gave a small smirk, dropping her gaze to her feet as she nodded towards her feet. Pogo let a relieved smile cross his face as he thought he had gotten through to her. That soon changed when Vanya raised her head, her eyes a violent white once more. The destruction of the house resumed around them, crumbling faster than before. Pogo watched in horror as the soft girl he'd once known, disappeared.

She jerked her chin upwards, causing Pogo to fly into the air. He sat there frozen, suspended in the air for a moment or two before he was quickly flung towards the south end of the room where he became impaled on the deer antlers that hung above the fireplace.

Vanya followed after him, standing just below his dying body, watching as he hung there like a macabre ornament. She watched as the life bled from his eyes. Luthor couldn't believe what he was seeing.

* * *

Klaus helped Diego down the crumbling fire escape as Thea pressed herself against the alley wall, clutching tightly to the straps of her bag. "You okay? you okay?" Klaus asked as Diego clung to him.

"Hey, you just save my life, man" Diego chuckled as he clung tightly to his brother. Klaus silently gestured at Ben who stood behind the two.

"Okay. Great"

"Shit! Mum, Mum!" called Diego as he spotted their mother standing in the second floor window, overlooking the alleyway. Thea stood frozen as she watched Grace standing there, perfectly pristine as if it were just another day. Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched Grace wave at the trio, a smile upon her face as she waited for her death.

"Mum! Get out there now! Mum!" the brother pleaded as they too watched their mother and home crumbled away to nothing. Klaus had to hold Diego back from charging back inside.

* * *

Vanya strode from her broken home, she had other things to do tonight.

* * *

"Mum! Mum!" Diego cried as he scrambled over the rubble, trying to find any sign of his mother, "Klaus, come here. Help me search!"

"Diego..." Klaus breathed as he pulled his brother to his feet. He was clearly upset at watching his brother break, "Just stop it. Stop"

"No what are you- Let me go. What are you doing?!"

"Stop. Stop. She's gone, okay. She's...gone"

"What do you wanna do? You w-wanna-wanna...walk away from this? What about Pogo?"

""He didn't make it" interjected Luthor as he and Alison joined the others.

"What?" breathed Thea from where she stood, shock clear upon her face. First Grace and now Pogo.

"Vanya killed him"

"But Vanya wouldn't..."

"No, I saw it. Just before we got out. Mum. Now Pogo"

"You okay?" Klaus asked Thea as Diego sank down on a piece of rubble by his feet. Thea didn't reply at first, gripping tight to her bag straps as she became stuck in flashing memories from the past. _Fire. Blood. Bodies strewn everywhere. Death, so much death. Run, run away. Get out, now!_ "Thea?"

Tears streamed down her face, as she sniffed, "It's happening again...We're gonna die, we're gonna die...I don't wanna die" She sounded so broken. Klaus quickly brought into a tight hug. No words of comfort were exchanged, both knew that they probably wouldn't kept.

Klaus pulled back when Five arrived, stumbling over the rubble and Thea kept close, rubbing at her red-rimmed eyes. "Guys!" Five called, his voice cracking slightly as he made his way over to them with a newspaper clutched in his hands, "This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today"

"I thought you said it was over" reminded Luthor.

"I was wrong, okay? This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed"

"No, that doesn't mean anything. The time could of been altered since that newspaper came out this morning" Diego suggested in denial.

"You're not _listening_ to me. When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The moon's still shining, the earth is still in one piece, but not the academy"

"I'm confused" muttered Klaus as he snatched the newspaper from Five.

"Then _listen_ to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the academy before the apocalypse...I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb, Vanya causes the apocalypse"

"We have to find her" Luthor whispered.

"We gotta go, now" Diego ordered as emergency services arrived at the scene, the helicopter above them, shining the spotlight down on the rubble of their home, "Regroup at _Super Star_. Go!"

Everyone ran, splitting apart from each other as they made their way towards the local bowling alley.


	33. Bad Moon Rising

Vanya, now smartly dressed in a black suit & tie and carrying her violin, left her apartment on her way to the concert at the Icarus Theatre. Everything seemed to be going her way today. Revenge on her rotten family and now she got to play at the Icarus Theatre as the first chair.

Ignoring the oncoming traffic, Vanya walked out into the middle of the road. There was the sound of tires screeching to a stop accompanied the pissed voice of the driver. "Get out of the way, bitch!" But Vanya just turned to the car and let out a blast of power, flinging it and its occupant back down the road as if it were nothing more than a toy car.

She continued on her way, the soft Vanya gone. She should of done this sooner. If this is what true power felt like. No wonder Luthor was so protective of being Number One.

* * *

Thea was the last one to arrive at the bowling alley, having gotten slightly lost on the way. She shuffled her way over the large group, now wearing a pair of red and white bowling shoes. She sank down in the seat next to Five, watching out the corner of her eye as he sagged slightly in relief. Everyone had made it.

"...Look I hate to be the one to say this but, everyone needs to prepare" started Luthor, fiddling with his hands as he talked.

"For what?" snapped Diego.

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya" Alison hit him in the shoulder for that, "I-We may not have a choice, Alison"

"_May not have a choice?'_ Just yesterday, you were preaching about how there was always a choice" Thea said, "What changed?"

"Did you not see what just happened? To our house? To Mum? To Pogo?"

"There's always options" Diego added, backing Thea up.

"Yeah, like what?" Five asked as Klaus flipped open the paper, already annoyed by his siblings' bickering.

"I don't know"

"Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya. And fast, okay? She could be anywhere" continued Luthor.

"Or...here" muttered Klaus as he came across the ad for Vanya's debut as first chair, "Look at this" he said showing everyone the newspaper.

"That's right. Her concert is tonight" muttered Diego.

"Hello" greeted one of the bowling employees, "I hate to intrude, but my manager says if you're not gonna bowl, you gotta leave"

"Whose turn is it?" teased Diego.

"Oh for the love of-" Luthor mumbled as he grabbed a random bowling ball and threw it over his shoulder, not once breaking eye contact with the manager behind the counter. The ball bounced over two lanes before it hit the pins, knocking down a strike.

Alison tapped on the message she had written down, showing it to Luthor as he turned back to face the group.

_She's our sister._

"We're the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to Dad"

"To _Dad?_ No, I've heard enough about-" Diego snapped.

"He sacrificed everything to bring us back together" replied Luthor.

"I'm with Luthor on this one" agreed Five, "We can't give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of live at stake. We're past trying to save just one"

"So you're okay with having to kill your sister, if it comes down to it?" Thea asked, clutching tightly to her bag. There was a beat of silence as no one spoke, it was a difficult question to answer.

Klaus suddenly piped up, turning the conversation towards him, "Hey, y'know guys, maybe I can help" he started.

"Now is not the time" dismissed Luthor.

"No, let him finish. He save my life today" snapped Diego as Klaus rose from his seat and moved towards the rack of bowling balls.

"Is that true?" Luthor asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I did...take credit for it. In fact the real hero...was Ben. Today...listen. Today, he punched me in the face and earlier at the house he was the one who save Diego's life. Not me"

"You are unbelievable Klaus"

"You want proof, is that it? All right, I'll give you proof" he muttered as he saw the perplexed looks around him, "Alright, it's showtime, baby. Catch!" Picking up a pink bowling ball he launched it towards Ben's outstretched hands. Instead of being caught, the ball fell right through Ben, crashing to the floor. Thea grunted as Five flinched away from the sudden approaching ball and into her.

"Is there anyway to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the centre of attention?" Luthor asked full of sass.

"Y'know I liked you a lot better_ before_ you got laid" snapped Klaus, before he tried to rapidly backpedal,"Which was a complete...It-it wasn't his fault, 'cause he was ridiculously high, right? And-and the girl...she thought he was a furry..."

"Stop!"

"Okay..."

"Alison, wait...!" Luthor called as he followed her out into the parking lot.

"Well, there's an image I can never get out of my head" muttered Thea as a sheepish Klaus and a tired Diego slumped down in the seats opposite Five and Thea.

"Excuse me" interrupted a third voice. The quartet looked up to see a portly woman escorting an uncomfortably shy-looking boy bearing a blue ribbon and clutching onto a lime green bowling ball, "Excuse me. It's my son, Kenny's birthday today and uh...wouldn't your kids be happier playing with kids their own age?...Assuming it's okay with your two dads"

Klaus shared a glance with Diego as Thea struggled to smuggle the cheshire grin on her face, having to hide it behind her hand as she bit on her lower lip to keep from laughing. It wasn't the first time she'd been mistaken for a kid. "I would rather chew off my own foot" Five replied, as the two quickly retreated from the group.

* * *

Five walked over to the next lane's rack of balls as the sound of a pneumatic pod being delivered, caught his attention. He half-listened to the conversation still going on behind him,_"If_ I was going to date a man, you'd be the last man I would date" commented Diego.

"You'd be lucky to get a guy like me" Klaus sassed.

"What are you smirking at, kid?"

"Nothing" grinned Thea.

"How the hell did she find me?" muttered Five as he flipped the pod over in his hands. Suddenly he remembered her insistence to take one of the 1950s sweets. Pulling out one of the sweets from his pocket, he hurriedly unwrapped it to find that it was a tracker.

"She's good" he muttered before dropping it to the floor and crushing it underfoot, "...Jesus" he sighed, unscrewing the lid and pouring the fortune cookie out into his palm. Cracking it open and tossing the pod aside, he unfurled the tiny note.

_TIME MARCHES ON...OR DOES IT?_

_Rain Quail, Rm 12_

Five disappeared in a flash. It was time to tie up some loose strings.

Vanya boarded the bus, taking a seat towards the back. Setting her violin across her lap, she couldn't but reminisce on how she had discover her love of music.

_**"Your siblings may be on this mission longer than usual" Reginald stated from where he sat resting in his armchair. Not once did he turn to face his daughter, "So as you wait, be prepared to do your studies alone. Do you understand?" he instructed the young girl standing by the door.**_

_**He received a nod in reply, "Very well" he dismissed her. But Vanya did not move. Her fingers trailed over the strings of the beautifully crafted violin, sitting in the open case, before she shyly spoke up.**_

_**"My studies this evening pertain to music, I wonder if I could borrow it?"**_

_**"...Take it and go"**_

* * *

_**"It's beautiful, isn't it?" cooed Vanya opening the violin case in her lap as sat in her mother's favourite spot amongst the paintings.**_

_**"Yes it is, Vanya" chuckled Grace standing before her.**_

_**"I will learn to play it. I'm going to be extraordinary"**_

_**"Put your whole heart into it, dear and I promise, one day, you will be" Reginald paused in his reading as he listened to their voices float down from the balcony above him, a small smile on his face.**_

* * *

"All right, where's Five?" demanded Luthor as he returned to the group to see less people than before.

"How should we know?" Thea muttered sarcastically as she skirted around Luthor having returned from the bathroom, "He's _your_ brother. Put a bell on him or something"

"He left" replied Diego ignoring Thea's comment, but the corner's of his lips twitched anyway.

"Oh for the love of-Where'd he go?"

"Didn't tell us"

"Well, we're not waiting around for him. The concert starts in 30 minutes"

'Alright, so what's the plan?"

"Well, I think that, uh...We go to the Icarus Theatre"

"That's a location, not a plan"

"..."

"What? Is that all you got? Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you're gonna have to get us on the same page, because right now, we're all over the place"

"You're right. We need a plan"

"DUCK!" screamed Thea as the sound of gunfire echoed around the bowling alley. The birthday party off to the side escaped out the door, their heads ducking down. It was clear the gunmen had no interest in them.

The Hargreeves siblings plus Thea ducked down behind the islands that lay about the room, taking cover from the rain of bullets. "Who the hell are these guys?" demanded Diego.

"Maybe they're here for Kenny's birthday!" Klaus suggested, hands over his head.

"No, I'm pretty sure they're here for us!" replied Luthor as he and Diego huddled together. For the first time in a couple of days, Thea's skin took on the shine of loralite, protecting her from the bullets that did manage to hit her.

Suddenly, the door to the bowling alley swung open, banging against the wall as a new figure joined the group. "Come out, come out, little Loric! It's time to play!" the figure sang as they came into the light, a large weapon in their hands.

"Whose the elf?" demanded Diego as he glanced around the island at the new addition.

"Shit! Seriously!" cursed Thea as she peeked too, quickly ducking behind the island once more when the figure fired the weapon at her.

"You know this dick?"

"Yeah! That's a Mogadorian. He's here for me...Gods above! They're like roaches!"

"Well get rid of him! We won't be able to escape with him on our tail!"

"If it were that easy, don't 'cha think I'd have already done it!" Thea yelled back at Diego. Her mind quickly ran through her options as she peered over at the Mog creeping closer. Her fingers ran across the diamond-edged dagger still strapped to her forearm, a crazy idea forming in her mind, "Here, take this" said Thea as she shoved her backpack at Klaus.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked.

"You know how sometimes I have these really great ideas?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry" She disappeared in a flash, appearing behind the Mog with the dagger gripped in her hand. She may not have properly fought a Mog for a while, but her body moved on memory, twisting and turning around the humans who stood in the way. She jumped up in the air and brought the dagger down on the Mog, straight through his skull with a yell.

He didn't even have time to turn as the blade poked out through his chin, impaling him like a kebab. The Mog gurgled, choking on his blood for a moment before he transformed into dust and ash. Thea fell to the floor as the ashen Mog drifted to the floor, now embedded into the carpet.

She was suddenly brought back to the situation at hand when bullets began to bounce off of her loralite armour. Quickly flashing back over to the others behind the counter, she quickly took her backpack back from Klaus, who practically shoved it into her hands. "Thanks" she coughed, trying to get rid of the ash in her mouth as she wipe away some of the blood dripping from her nose, on her sleeve.

Diego suddenly popped up, throwing a knife straight between the eyes of one of the gunmen, causing him to stumble backwards and into the sound system. The lights in the room turned off as the flashing florescent lights came on and the sound of Bay City Rollers' Saturday Night blared over the speakers.

Next to him, Luthor pulled a couple of bowling balls off of the rack and launched them towards the gunmen. Klaus joined in too, launching Kenny's birthday cake at the face of one the assailants as Diego and Luthor continued to take care of the others. Alison and Thea stayed huddled behind the islands, neither were really any good at long-range fighting.

"They're blocking the exit!" called Klaus.

"So, what's the plan now? Thea can you teleport us out of here?" called Diego.

"I've never done more than three people before! If you want to keep your limbs intact, think of something else!" Thea called back.

"Luthor? Plan?"

Alison caught the others' attention pointing towards the bowling lanes. "The lanes! Go!" ordered Luthor as he caught on and everyone launched themselves forward, each pelting down a lane and sliding through the pins and escaping out the back way. They were lucky no one got hurt.

* * *

Five turned up to room 12 at the Rain Quail not too long after he'd received the message. "Five, I've been waiting for you" called the Handler through the cracked door.

"You must really like doughnuts" sighed Five as he found Agnes, the Griddy's waitress tied up and duct-taped to a chair.

"It's been a while"

"Three days"

"For you, maybe. But for me it's been a lot longer since I've seen those adorable little shorts"

"Well, you've had time to heal"

"Luckily, for both of us, time...is the one thing my organisation has an abundance of"

"Got your message, by the way. Nice packaging, but so much for Commission protocol"

"Mm. There have been...a lot of changes since you left the Commission. You really did some damage...The briefcases were all but destroyed, to say nothing of the highly trained personnel you killed. Not to mention the vast damage done to the library by that little alien. After all, what is an institution if not for-"

"What do you want?"

"To be happy. To have a simple...unfettered life, to...do the work my superiors require. But...your being here, well, it complicates all that"

_"Billions_ of people are about to die tonight. _You_ can change that"

"Tonight, tomorrow. So little difference in the scheme of things...Don't you remember the Commission's raison dêtre? What's meant to be is meant to be, or as I like to say que será, será"

"It's _bullshit_ in any language. Why did you call me here?"

"...I wanna offer you a choice. Everyone's going to die tonight, but...unlike the rest of the world, you have a way out. You can abandon your family and skip ahead to the apocalypse, take a walkabout for a few decades, wondering if I'll come back and offer you a job again, or you can stay here, with your with and...die a horrible death. While you weigh your options just know your siblings are fighting for their lives without you"

"You brought me here to pull me away"

"It's been nice knowing you, Five"

Five disappeared in a flash, returning to the family he'd unknowingly abandoned.


	34. Survivor

The sombre melody seemed to play like a death march throughout the Icarus Theatre, surrounded by like-minded people, and she, Vanya, was the first chair.

* * *

Alison led the charge through the theatre, stopping the others as they came to a stop outside the large ornate doors. Spinning around she showed the message written on her notepad.

_I need to go alone._

"Wh-Alison, I can't let you do that, all right? She's beyond reasoning" replied Luthor, trying to convince her.

"You hear the music?" Diego shouted over the two of them, "It's started"

"Do you really think she's going to listen? After everything that's happened?"

"We don't have time for this" muttered Klaus as he glanced back over his shoulder, hurrying his brother along.

"...Okay" Alison hurried off through the doors, leaving her brothers behind.

"You're using her as a distraction, aren't you?" stated Diego.

"It'll be our best chance to incapacitate Vanya" replied Luthor, "She'll thanks us later"

"So, what's the plan?" Klaus asked following his brothers inside.

"Uh, you wait out front"

"What?"

"Yeah, you're the lookout"

"The lookout?" Thea skirted around Klaus as he sulked his way back outside, and followed Diego and Luthor in the theatre, walking down the right-hand side.

* * *

Alison came to a stop halfway down the centre aisle as she listened to Vanya play. Luthor and Diego stood in the right and left wings, cautiously making their way forward, listening to their sister play. It was beautiful. Like the past few hours hadn't even happened.

Both Vanya and Alison smiled as Vanya glanced out into the audience, catching her sister standing there. It was typical that the first concert they'd ever see her play was when the world was about to end.

Diego glanced at Luthor who had his eyes locked on Vanya. Luthor didn't even hesitate as he rushed forward, ready to tackle Vanya to the ground. However she stood from her chair and swung her violin bow in their direction, sending a wave of power towards him and out towards the frightened audience.

She swung another bolt of power over the orchestra who had tried to evacuate along with the audience members. Alison's peaceful expression soon turned to horror as she saw what her sister was capable of.

Vanya now stood centre stage as the orchestra behind her continued to play, if a bit reluctantly. "Move! Go, go, go, go! Move!" Diego called to the remaining audience who screamed as they left the building.

Vanya swung her bow again. "She's stronger than expected" sassed Diego as he and Luthor ducked down below a row of seats, Alison and Thea hiding behind a row of seats across from them. "Yeah" breathed Luthor.

Alison threw her notebook at Luthor's head, trying to get their attention.

"No, we're fine, thanks for asking" sassed Luthor as he turned to look at her. Alison rolled her eyes, "Look I almost lost you once, all right. I wasn't about to lose you again"

"Well, so much for the element of surprise. What else you got?" Diego asked. Alison banged on the seat in front of her, before quickly pretending to play the violin.

"No shit, Alison. Tell us something we don't already know" snapped Diego.

"She's talking about the violin" Luthor translated, "It's her lightning rod. If we can take it from her and stop her from playing we might have a shot" All four of them peered around and over the seats they were hiding behind, to see Vanya glowing white as she continued to play.

"But she wasn't playing anything back at the house, and she destroyed that and killed Pogo. What makes you think this is gonna work?" Thea asked as she ducked back behind the seats in front of her.

"We'll just have to see"

"Well, _that's_ reassuring"

Suddenly they were joined by another group of people, they were almost like clones of the gunmen at the bowling alley. This time the gunmen didn't seem to care about the other casualties they racked up. The quartet in the audience tucked themselves as low to the ground as they could, trying to avoid being hit as the orchestra finally fled, leaving Vanya to play alone.

"What the hell happened to Klaus? He's supposed to be out lookout!" called Diego as he lay on the floor.

"Yeah, you surprised?" replied Luthor from where he lay.

"What's with all this lallygagging?" demanded Five as he flashed into the theatre.

"Get down!" ordered Thea as she dragged him down behind the seats with her, just barely avoided being hit.

* * *

"...I didn't ask for coriander!" whined Klaus as he bit into his burrito. Ben just looked so done with him.

"Do you hear gunfire?" Ben asked as he wandered around the side of the food truck.

"What?" muttered Klaus with a mouth full of food. Glancing back down the street, they saw Cha-Cha limping towards them, a murderous look upon her face.

"Oh shit!" cursed Klaus as he and Ben hugged the hood of the vehicle, "This is it, mofo. Go time, go time!" he whispered running towards the theatre.

"What about the gunfire?" asked Ben.

"Come on, man, we're the damn lookouts!"

* * *

"Five, where the hell have you been?" demanded Luthor, "I thought you bailed on us" The '_again' _went unsaid.

"I, uh had an errand to run" Five excused as he glanced around the room, trying to see how many there were, "This is not good"

"You know these guys?" Diego asked.

"Yeah, I do"

"Great. First Thea's elf at the bowling alley and now your time keepers, here!"

"Elf?"

"Don't worry about it" replied Thea as the bullets continued to rain down on them.

"So?" Diego persisted.

"Well...we're screwed" Five muttered as some of the assailants began to stride down the aisle, weapons locked on them. Diego quickly fired a couple of knives at the two gunmen in the corner, killing them instantly just as Klaus came running into the room, oblivious to the situation.

"Guys! It's Cha-Cha! It's Cha-Cha, she-" he yelled, quickly hitting the floor as bullets were directed at him. Five instantly flashed over to the nearest assailant, landing on his back and swinging him around so that he killed his colleagues instead of his brother.

Klaus wasn't sure what came over him. The gunfire had brought back memories of Vietnam and seeing his family so terrified of what was happening...It just sort of combined together, pushing him over the edge.

His hands began to glow a brilliant blue as he stood upright, conjuring a somewhat solid Ben with a yell. Ben lifted his shirt, revealing the tentacles that exploded out from him and attacked the gunmen around them. Everyone stared in shock as they saw why the rain of bullets had come to an end.

Not wasting any time, Diego launched himself forward, tackling Cha-Cha to the floor, beginning to try and beat the shit out of her. "Oh my God" breathed Luthor, "It's him. Ben" With all the gunmen now dead and gone, Klaus was only able to keep Ben visible for a moment more, before he disappeared from the other's view. "Now, whose the lookout?" gasped Klaus, smirking at his siblings.

All the while, Vanya had continued to play, the music sweeping out over the theatre in powerful waves. "Oh, welcome back. Where were you?" Luthor sassed Diego as he rejoined to group.

"Honouring a memory" replied Diego, "So how do you wanna end this thing?"

"We surround her. All right? We come at her from all angles" replied Luthor.

"So it's a suicide mission" stated Klaus.

"Yeah, but one of us could get through. It's the only chance we've got" reasoned Five.

"So if we don't do this, we definitely die and if we do do this, we might die?...Sure, why not?" muttered Thea.

"Are we all in?" Luthor asked.

"Yeah"

"Alison?" Alison shook her head furiously, she didn't want to kill her only sister, "Stage left" Luthor instructed Diego, "Stage right" he pointed to himself and then ordered Thea, Five and Klaus to take the front. The others all split off, each taking a different spot, "I'm sorry. There's _no_ time, Alison. If she finishes this concert, the world goes up in flames" Luthor apologised as he sped off to the right.

The music swelled as the moon came to rest over the skylight of the shaking theatre, it was clear that she close to reaching the climax. All at once the boys charged towards Vanya who was now garbed in a white suit and violin, her power positively emanating from her. She looked eerily beautiful, especially as the moonlight shone down upon her.

Thea hesitated from where she sat, crouched on the floor of the audience pit. It was probably a good thing she did too, as Vanya swung her bow once more, attaching four streams of light to her brothers. Thea watched on in terror as they hung suspended in the air, their life force being drained from them.

Thea took a deep breath and slowly rose to her feet, her loralite armour glittered in the moonlight. "I hope this works" she muttered as she raised her hands in the air, palms facing Vanya. Every inch of her body began to light up, setting her aglow and bathing the room in an eery blue glow as she shone lumen out of her like a disco ball.

With a yell, she focused the lumen to her palms, igniting the boys where they hung like macabre angels and blinding Vanya in the process. At the same time that she was trying to blind Vanya, Alison had crept up behind her sister, a pistol pointed at her head. She paused, fighting with herself to kill her sister or for her sister to kill her family.

Closing her eyes against the light, she moved the pistol next to Vanya's ear and pulled the trigger. Vanya dropped her brothers like hot potatoes and shot a beam of light up through the skylight and towards the moon before collapsing to the floor in Alison's lap, unconscious.

"Thea! Thea! You can stop now!" called Five as he blindly shook Thea's shoulder, before quickly dropping his hand from her shoulder. She was hot to the touch. Just as quickly as the lumen had come, it flickered and went out. Five had to quickly catch her, before she hit the floor, blood pouring from her nose as he did so.

"You okay?" he asked, holding her upright.

"Think so..." she slurred, a little woozy as Five helped her up to the stage where Alison sat with Vanya in her lap, surrounded by the others.

"Is she alive?" Luthor rushed out as Alison felt for a pulse. The siblings breathed a sigh of relief when Alison nodded, having found one, "She is? Yeah?"

"Oh, thank God" breathed Klaus

"We did it. We saved the world"

Klaus glanced over his shoulder, he stood up something in the skylight having caught his attention. "Uh...Guys? You see that big moon rock coming towards us?" he asked.

"Oh, that's not good" mumbled Luthor as he and Diego joined Klaus to stare at the sky.

"So this is it huh? So much for...saving the world" muttered Klaus as he clutched to the dog tags around his neck.

"If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh?" added Diego, "The Umbrella Academy. A total failure"

"At least we're together at the end. As a family" said Luthor.

"This doesn't have to be the end" Five piped up, thinking aloud.

"What? What are you talking about, Five?" Diego asked as the trio turned to look at him.

"I think I have a way outta here. But you gotta trust me on this"

"Yeah, I don't think so"

'No!"

"Nah"

"Well then we might as well accept our fate, because in less than a minute we're going to be vaporised"

"What's your idea then?" Diego asked turning to his brother.

"We use my ability to time travel and couple it with Thea's to jump multiverses. But this time, we all go"

"You can do that?"

"I don't know, I've never tried it before"

"What about Thea?"

"Five, you're aware of what you're asking right? I jumped multiverses once. Once! And I ended up in a 5 year coma because of it!" Thea ranted as she wobbled to her feet.

"Yeah, but this time, you'll be staying in the same universe, just going back in time. Same frequency, different time"

"Same frequency, different time?...I guess that could work"

"What's the worse that could happen?" Diego asked

"You're looking at it. A 58-year old man inside a child's body, so there's that"

"Oh what the hell? I'm in" agreed Diego

"Yeah, whatever I'm in"added Klaus

"Me too" agreed Luthor, "Alison? What about Ben?"

"Yeah, great. He's in" replied Klaus relaying the message.

"Okay, great. Luthor, grab Vanya"

"Wait, should we be taking her with us?" Luthor asked as everyone came together in a huddle and Luthor held Vanya in his arms, "I mean if she's the cause of the apocalypse...isn't that like take the bomb with us?"

"The apocalypse will always happen and Vanya will always be the cause _unless_ we take her with us and fix her"

Everyone huddled in close, gripping tight to each other's hands as the moon debris grew closer to them. Both Five and Thea scrunched their eyes tight in concentration, Five staring up at the blue portal above them and Thea down at the ground as began to quietly recite the equation in Loric as if it were a prayer.

The portal grew lower to the group and they all seemed to be physically raging backwards as it came lower. Five watched the group around him as they shrunk back down to their younger selves, as Ben reappeared clutching tightly to Klaus' shoulder, as more blood seemed to leak from Thea's face.

"It's working!" called Luthor as he too watched the people around him transform.

"Hold on! It's gonna get messy!" Five called as he gripped tighter to the people either side of him.

Devastation spread across the lands, killing everything in its path. Agnes and Hazel disappeared, a blue flash enveloping them as the wave of destruction washed over where they had been standing. Cha-Cha stood at a phone booth furiously tapping on the buttons as she tried to reach Commission HQ, she was soon enveloped by the flames.

The portal finally closed, swallowing the people within and disappearing with a flash. The only thing left of them is a white violin on the floor. The Icarus Theatre was destroyed mere moments later, going up in flames and smoke as the theatre crumbled to the floor.

The apocalypse had come.


	35. Playlist

**In Order of Appearance:**

_'The River',_ Blues Saraceno

_'Come Little Children'_, Katethegreat19

_'Welcome to the Black Parade'_, My Chemical Romance

_'Dangerous'_, Royal Deluxe

_'Run Boy Run'_, Woodkid

_'Castle of Glass'_, Linkin Park

'_Ain't No Rest For the Wicked'_, The Elephant

_'Lions Inside'_, Valley of the Wolves

_'Mercy'_, Shawn Mendes

_'Begging You for Mercy'_, Glee Cast (Duffy Cover)

_'One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer'_, George Thorogood

_'Shook the Devil's Hand'_, SWANK

_'Carry on Wayward Son'_, Kansas

_'Devil Went Down to Georgia'_, Primus

_'Thnks fr th Mmrs'_, Fall Out Boy

_'A Hard Days Night'_ (2015 Remaster), The Beatles

_'Paradise by the Dashboard Light'_, Glee Cast (Meatloaf Cover)

_'Secret'_, The Pierces

_'Hallelujah'_, Tori Kelly (Leonard Cohen Cover)

_'It's a Man's World'_, Karise Eden (James Brown Cover)

_'I'm So Sorry'_, Imagine Dragons

_'Another One Bites the Dust'_, Queen

_'Control'_, Halsey

_'Bad Moon Rising'_ , Morning Ritual (Creedence Clearwater Revival Cover)

_'Survivor'_, 2Wei (Beyoncé Cover)


	36. Credit

**(Paraphrased) Quotes Used:**

"The events in this book are real. Names and places have been changed to protect the Lorien seven, who remain in hiding. Take this as your first warning. Other civilisations do exist, some of them seek to destroy you" **_-I am Number Four, _Pittacus Lore**

"On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual in the only fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible. He got seven of them"_** -The Umbrella Academy, **_**Gerard Way**

"Fear is not real...It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist...Fear is a choice" **_-After Earth_**

**(****Paraphrased) Stories/Tales Used:**

_The Little Match Girl,_ Hans Christian Andersen


End file.
